The following announcement was made today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

Jan Egeland, the Special Adviser on the Humanitarian Task Force for Syria, stresses the need for access in Wadi Barada, which supplies most of the water to Damascus, Syria, where some 5.5 million people have no water. The United Nations has received reports of the displacement of at least 7,000 people from the Wadi Barada area north of the city due to recent fighting.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Ursula Mueller of Germany as Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Olof Skoog (Sweden):

Encouraged by the spirit of flexibility and compromise demonstrated by Congolese political leaders, the Security Council welcomed today the signing of a comprehensive and inclusive political agreement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 31 December 2016.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Haiti, Sandra Honoré, and the other members of the “Core Group” today congratulated President-elect Jovenel Moïse on his election and encouraged all actors to respect the final results.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Olof Skoog (Sweden):

Building on a “trajectory of unity” that had begun with the Security Council’s recent adoption of two important Middle East resolutions, Olof Skoog (Sweden), Council President for January, said the 15-member body would focus on issues ranging from Colombia to the Lake Chad Basin, hold a ministerial-level open debate on the maintenance of international peace and security and work to make its overall methods more results-oriented.

On 1 January, António Guterres took over as the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations.  After taking office he issued a statement appealing for peace and asking that 2017 be a year for peace.

NEW YORK, 3 January (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs and the World Customs Organization have agreed on a memorandum of understanding to formalize existing cooperation.