Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for World Telecommunication and Information Society Day in Geneva today:
While small forward steps to break a languishing political impasse in Guinea‑Bissau were hopeful ahead of elections and the resumption of National Assembly plenary meetings, threats such as rampant drug trafficking and shortfalls in electoral project financing could hamper further gains, the Security Council heard today.
Michael Keating, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, joined that country’s President Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmaajo” on Tuesday in calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities between “Somaliland” and Puntland forces following recent fighting in the Tukaraq area of the Sool region.
The intensity of international confrontations over Syria during the last month were unprecedented since 1973, the Special Envoy told the Security Council today, underscoring the need for “careful diplomacy” to support de-escalation, avoid miscalculations and facilitate genuine communication about sustainably ending the conflict.
A top United Nations management official today outlined the Secretary-General’s vision for a more integrated approach to conflict prevention and peacebuilding, including a proposal to merge two of the organization’s main departments, as the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) took up myriad peacekeeping topics.
The recent approval of Somalia’s security transition plan by the Council of Ministers, and its endorsement by the African Union Peace and Security Council, marked a milestone in the country’s path towards assuming full responsibility for its own stability, the Secretary‑General’s Special Representative told the Security Council today.
The Security Council today decided to extend, for six months, mandates of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) relating to the delivery of humanitarian assistance and the protection of civilians, among others, while also underlining that its tasks relating to the contested region’s Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism would be extended no further unless the parties to the dispute accelerated progress in several key areas.
The Security Council today decided to reauthorize member States of the African Union to maintain their deployment of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) until 31 July 2018, recalling also its decision to authorize the regional bloc to reduce the Mission’s troop and police personnel levels by the end of October.
The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today that 14 May was a day of tragedy for the people of Gaza. He said that there is no justification for the killing, and there is no excuse.
Following is the statement by the General Assembly’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People regarding the situation in Gaza:
