Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the World Health Summit regional meeting, titled “Global Health in African Countries”, being held in Coimbra, Portugal, from 19 to 20 April:
Indigenous women faced myriad forms of violence, and in the United States, murder rates that were 10 times the national average, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues heard today, as participants considered the range of problems impairing or outright blocking the exercise of basic rights.
On 11 April 2018, members of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2206 (2015) concerning South Sudan were briefed by the Panel of Experts on South Sudan in connection with the Panel’s final report, which was submitted in pursuance of paragraph 2 of resolution 2353 (2017).
A technical team deployed by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the United Kingdom had identified toxic agents consistent with that Government’s initial investigation, said the United Nations top disarmament official in a briefing to the Security Council today.
The Economic and Social Council today adopted three decisions and took up several reports, including two addressing food security and nutrition, as the organ concluded the first part of its coordination and management meetings of the 2018 session.
Member States had set the tone for progress towards developing a legally binding treaty aimed at the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction, the President of the Intergovernmental Conference on the matter said today as she concluded its three-day organizational meeting.
On 12 April 2018, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1591 (2005) concerning the Sudan met to hear a briefing from the Coordinator of the Panel of Experts on the Sudan on the Panel’s work programme for 2018‑2019.
Indigenous peoples were overrepresented among the poor, disproportionately impacted by climate change and systematically targeted for defending their freedoms, experts told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today as it covered a range of infringements upon collective rights to lands, territories and natural resources.
More than 200 children were released by armed groups in South Sudan, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced today. They were among a series of arranged releases of almost 1,000 children over the coming months. About 19,000 children still serve in the ranks of armed forces and groups in the country.
On 18 April 2018, the following entry on the Committee’s List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and other measures relating to attempts to illicitly export petroleum, including crude oil and refined petroleum products, from Libya (the Libya Sanctions List) expired:
