The Security Council today further strengthened its sanctions regime against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, condemning in the strongest terms that country’s ballistic missile launches and reaffirming its decision that Pyongyang shall abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) released its annual report today which says that, after two years of economc contraction, all countries in the region except Venezuela, Saint Lucia and Suriname will record positive, though still low, growth this year.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta (Egypt):

At its 67th meeting, on 3 August 2017, the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the fourth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in the Philippines (document S/2017/294), covering the period from 1 December 2012 to 31 December 2016, agreed to convey the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group:

On 21 July 2017, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2127 (2013) concerning the Central African Republic held informal consultations to consider the midterm report of the Panel of Experts submitted pursuant to paragraph 28 (c) of resolution 2339 (2017).

The World Food Programme in Turkey says more than 850,000 refugees are now receiving cash assistance thanks to the European Union-funded Emergency Social Safety Net, which provides the most vulnerable refugee families with a debit card covering basic needs.  It also provides about $35 dollars per family every month.

Effective implementation of sanctions required support from all Member States, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs told the Security Council today, emphasizing that when used effectively, they should lead to comprehensive political strategies for preventing and peacefully resolving conflicts.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta (Egypt):

On 2 August 2017, the Committee approved the addition of the entry specified below to its 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), set out in paragraphs 15 and/or 17 of Security Council resolution 1970 (2011) and/or paragraph 19 of resolution 1973 (2011), or paragraph 10 of resolution 2146 (2014), as extended and modified by paragraph 2 of resolution 2362 (2017), adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.