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

KINGSTOWN, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 18 May — The Caribbean Regional Seminar on Decolonization had produced innovative ideas on a broad range of issues with a view to advancing progress towards self-determination for the remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories, participants said today at the conclusion of the event’s third and final day.

While Bosnia and Herzegovina was largely stable and had made considerable political strides, its continued progress must not be taken for granted, the senior United Nations official in the country warned the Security Council today, while expressing concern over divisive trends that risked reopening the Federation’s “wounds of the past”.

Medical experts are racing the clock to contain the Ebola outbreak in the remote Likati Health Zone area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo bordering the Central African Republic, the World Health Organization said today.  The Zone is 1,400 kilometres from Kinshasa and 350 kilometres from Kisangani, the nearest major town.

Somalia’s peaceful election of a new President had opened a unique opportunity to surmount entrenched insecurity, political and humanitarian challenges and create a functional State in the coming four years, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today.

As some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails marked 30 days of a “freedom and dignity” hunger strike, Israel continued to ignore their most basic demands and intensify its abuse and collective punishment, the Palestinian Rights Committee heard today.

On 17 May 2017, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2127 (2013) concerning the Central African Republic approved the following individual as subject to the measures imposed by paragraphs 5 and 12 of resolution 2339 (2017):

The Secretary-General welcomed the return of calm in Côte d’Ivoire following the unacceptable acts of violence committed by soldiers of the Forces Armées de Côte d’Ivoire over the past few days.  He commends the Government of Côte d’Ivoire for its efforts to address the unrest and restore security.

KINGSTOWN, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 16 May — Opening the Caribbean Regional Seminar on Decolonization today, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said all stakeholders had a collective responsibility to advance progress towards decolonization, with cooperation underpinning success.

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