Acknowledging the political agreement reached on 18 October in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Security Council remained concerned about the risk for destabilization of the country in the absence of a swift and consensual resolution to the current political crisis.

Following vetoes wielded by China and the Russian Federation, the Security Council today failed to adopt a draft resolution that would have had all parties in Syria end attacks on the city of Aleppo within 24 hours.  The proposed cessation of hostilities would have lasted at least one week and would have demanded immediate safe access to all areas for humanitarian assistance.

A total of 20 donors today announced contributions, or their intention to contribute, to the 2017 budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as officials urged stable financing for the Agency amid devastating conflicts and violence in the Middle East.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message to the Arab Knowledge Summit, in Dubai, today:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, as delivered by Tadamichi Yamamoto, Special Representative for Afghanistan, to the sixth Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process, in Amritsar, India, 4 December:

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate in Aleppo City, where an estimated 31,500 people are displaced from areas in eastern Aleppo retaken by the Government of Syria.  The UN and partners are scaling up their humanitarian response in Aleppo and responding to the needs of the newly displaced.

While the world had seen sweeping changes in the decade since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities — one of the most widely-ratified human rights instruments in history — speakers today told the General Assembly that more remained to be done to eradicate discrimination around the globe and even the playing field for persons with disabilities.

Delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today criticized the Secretary-General’s budget outline for the biennium 2018‑2019 for what they viewed as a lack of strategic depth and clarity on estimated costs for several initiatives that had yet to be considered by the General Assembly.