On 26 January 2017, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1518 (2003) approved the removal of the following entry from its List of Individuals and Entities subject to the assets freeze set out by paragraphs 19 and 23 of Security Council resolution 1483 (2003) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.
The Secretary-General has issued terms of reference for an impartial, independent mechanism to help investigate and prosecute those responsible for the most serious crimes committed in Syria since March 2011.
The new Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, presented her credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.
Heavy fighting in Yemen — notably around Sana’a, Taiz and the border with Saudi Arabia — was all the more tragic because a viable peace proposal was within reach of both parties to the conflict there, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy told the Security Council today, while pressing both sides to demonstrate the political courage needed to stop the nearly two-year-long war.
Describing reports of severe suffering, starvation and indiscriminate attacks on civilians amid the ongoing fighting in Syria, humanitarian officials briefed the Security Council today, offering glimpses of hope while urging sustained action to end the six-year-long conflict in that country.
The Economic and Social Council today adopted two draft decisions on the theme of its 2017 session and on the dates of its upcoming coordination and management segments, as well as elected a new Vice-President.
The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) until 31 July 2017 today, while encouraging the divided island nation’s leaders to “grasp the current opportunity” of recent progress in negotiations to secure a comprehensive settlement of the dispute between them.
Opening their eleventh session today, members of the Peacebuilding Commission’s Organizational Committee elected that body’s 2017 Bureau and the Chairs of its country-specific configurations, in addition to discussing its goals for the coming year.
The United Nations Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) condemned today the coordinated suicide bombing attack at a hotel in Mogadishu. The attack reportedly killed dozens of Somali civilians and soldiers, while wounding many more. The Mission reports that Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The General Assembly concluded its high-level dialogue on sustainable development and sustaining peace today with its President underscoring the need to take the debate beyond the halls of the United Nations while reforming the Organization with the active support of its Member States.
