On 3 February 2017, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al‑Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities removed the name below from the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List.

The recent dangerous uptick in fighting seen in eastern Ukraine had left hundreds of thousands of civilians at risk of losing all access to water, heat and electricity, a particularly worrying development given the current plummeting winter temperatures, the Security Council heard this afternoon.

The fifty-fifth session of the Commission for Social Development continued today, with participants casting a spotlight on challenges faced by young people, and the perils of growing inequality, as Governments strove to put the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into action.

Continuing its regular session for 2017, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommended 58 organizations for consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, deferred action on the status of 51 others and postponed consideration of one request for status that had been submitted after the merger of two organizations.

The General Assembly reaffirmed its strong commitment today to the Kimberley Process and its certification scheme, an international initiative launched by the United Nations in 2003 to break the link between rough diamond purchases and armed conflict.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq briefed the Security Council today noting the progress that had been made by Iraqi forces in Mosul.  He said that in the foreseeable future, the liberation operations in Iraq are coming to an end and the days of Da’esh are numbered.

With the campaign to oust Da’esh fighters from Iraq “nearly won”, the country’s international partners must remain engaged because any abrupt scale-down in support would risk grave consequences both within and beyond the nation’s borders, the top-ranking United Nations official there cautioned in the Security Council today.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message on the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, observed on 6 February:

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Volodymyr Yelchenko (Ukraine):

Continuing its regular session for 2017, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommended 49 organizations for special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council and deferred action on the status of 50 others.  The Committee also recommended that one organization be reclassified as having general consultative status and deferred consideration of two organizations' reclassification applications.