The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved a resolution today on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as well as heard the introduction of seven texts on issues ranging from combating the glorification of Nazism and neo-Nazism, to realizing the right to food.
The General Assembly today filled more than 20 vacancies in subsidiary bodies, acting on the recommendation of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), and also appointed new members to the Committee on Conferences, Joint Inspection Unit and the Economic and Social Council.
The Security Council today extended the arms embargo on Somalia until 15 November 2017, while reaffirming that country’s sovereignty over its natural resources. It also reaffirmed its arms embargo on Eritrea.
In Geneva, Jan Egeland, Special Adviser on Syria told the press that reports from east Aleppo were saying that the last food rations were being distributed, with nothing more to distribute next week. There was now a four-part United Nations initiative aimed at delivering food and other urgent supplies to that city.
As Libya continued to be consumed by multiple conflicts, with innocent civilians bearing the brunt of the fighting, the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court would seek to expand its efforts in the strife-filled country, the Chief Prosecutor told the Security Council today.
The Security Council today renewed for another year its authorization for international naval forces to join in fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia, stressing that while the threat of such crime had declined, it still remained a matter of grave concern.
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq briefed the Security Council on the progress of Iraq’s forces in the battle to liberate Mosul, underlining the importance of civilian protection, preventing revenge attacks and dealing fairly with accountability issues of captured Da’esh fighters.
While there were still many challenges to be addressed, international tribunals set up in the wake of the wars in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda had left behind a historic legacy of bringing to justice perpetrators of atrocity crimes, the General Assembly heard this morning.
The historic battle to liberate Mosul marked the beginning of the end for the so-called “Da’esh caliphate in Iraq”, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in that country told the Security Council this morning.
The following statement by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was issued today:
