In a push to dislodge entrenched positions around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Security Council ended 2016 by adopting the first of its resolutions in more than three decades to target settlements, capping a year of intermittent divisions and contentious debate over how and even whether to intervene in the world’s fiercest conflicts, from Syria and Yemen in the Middle East to the Central African Republic, Mali and South Sudan in Africa.

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process said authorities must cooperate to resolve the electricity crisis in Gaza, noting that he is closely following the tense situation unfolding mid-winter after 2 million Palestinians can access only two hours of electric power daily.

Amid a “rising tide of democracy” across the African continent, the United Nations must continue to support regional efforts to ensure that the Gambia’s recent election results were upheld, stressed the Organization’s senior official in West Africa and the Sahel as he briefed the Security Council this morning.

Despite the gains made against Boko Haram by countries in the Lake Chad Basin region, the extremist group remained a threat, carrying out asymmetric attacks against civilians, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today, stressing that only a concerted international approach would help repair the material and social damage inflicted on communities.

This morning the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations briefed the Security Council on Darfur.  Although there been a decrease in armed conflict in Darfur, he said, civilians had remained exposed to significant sources of insecurity such as intercommunal conflict and criminality.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Tania Patriota of Brazil as his Deputy Special Representative for Colombia and Deputy Head of the United Nations Mission in Colombia.

Despite a significant decrease in armed conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region, civilians remained exposed to violence and criminality, while long-term comprehensive solutions to address the needs of the region’s 2.6 million displaced persons remained elusive, said the United Nations peacekeeping chief as he briefed the Security Council this morning.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced today the appointment of Jeremiah Nyamane Kingsley Mamabolo of South Africa as Acting Joint Special Representative for Darfur and Head of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).

Despite a host of challenges, the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) remained determined to ensure the successful implementation of the new peace agreement, the Head of the United Nations Mission in Colombia told the Security Council today.

The United Nations condemns the 10 January terrorist attacks near Afghanistan’s Parliament in Kabul, and the residence of the Provincial Governor of Kandahar.