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:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon left New York on Sunday, 6 November, for Switzerland, where he arrived on Monday morning.

The General Assembly would demand that Israel stop exploiting, damaging, depleting or endangering natural resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan, according to one of three draft resolutions approved by the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this afternoon to introduce seven draft resolutions, including on tackling the human rights situations in Syria and Iran, as well as on measures to eliminate female genital mutilation.

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

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Maria do Valle Ribeiro of Ireland as his new Deputy Special Representative and Deputy Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), where she will also serve as United Nations Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) reports that an explosion in Goma this morning killed a girl and wounded 32 peacekeepers from India.  MONUSCO dispatched a Quick Reaction Force at the scene and all the injured are receiving medical treatment in Goma.

Concluding its work for the main part of the General Assembly’s seventy-first session, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) approved 10 draft resolutions and two draft decisions today, on such issues as Israeli practices, to the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), to the question of Gibraltar.

Urging all parties to abide fully by their commitments under the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Security Council renewed its authorization of the European-led multinational stabilization force there (EUFOR ALTHEA) for another year before commencing a debate on the situation in the country today.