The new Permanent Representative of Palau to the United Nations, Ngedikes Olai Uludong, presented her credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

The new Permanent Representative of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United Nations, Modest Jonathan Mero, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

Following is UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks as prepared for delivery for the International Day of Happiness observance today:

The Government of Iraq reports that 180,000 civilians have fled western Mosul since mid-February, when military operations to retake the city’s western districts began.  Humanitarian agencies are bracing for the possibility of an additional 300,000 to 320,000 civilians fleeing in the coming weeks.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Nairobi from Somalia on Tuesday evening, 7 March.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres travelled from New York via Kenya to Somalia, were he arrived on Tuesday morning, 7 March, to highlight the ongoing risk of famine and cholera faced by millions in the country.

Concluding its work today, the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations approved the draft report of its 2017 session (document A/AC.121/2017/L.3).

The Commission on the Status of Women today considered a range of Government efforts to promote gender equality, outlined in six national voluntary presentations spanning four continents, as it concluded the first week of its sixty-first annual session.

Expressing serious concern over the potential growth of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) — also known as Da’esh — the presence of anti-personnel mines and other explosive remnants of war, and the record number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan, the Security Council today adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the United Nations Mission in that country by one year.

UNICEF says that a year after the Balkan border closures and the European Union-Turkey Statement meant to stop mass migration flows, refugee and migrant children face greater risks of deportation, detention, exploitation and deprivation.  More of them are embarking on even more dangerous and irregular routes with smugglers.