The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:
Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s remarks at the General Assembly’s thematic panel discussion “From commitment to implementation: Ten years of the responsibility to protect”, in New York, today:
The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) for one year today, amid a political crisis in that country and ahead of the Council’s visit to West Africa in March.
The Secretary-General announced the allocation of $21 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund for South Sudan out of $1.3 billion that is currently needed for United Nations humanitarian work in the country. He also called for support for the Humanitarian Response Plan, which is only 3 per cent funded.
Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, delivered by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Tayé-Brook Zerihoun, to the opening of the 2016 session of the Special Committee on Decolonization, in New York today:
The Special Committee on Decolonization should intensify action-oriented dialogue with the aim of generating further momentum to fulfil the United Nations decolonization mandate, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement read out on his behalf at the opening of that body’s 2016 session today.
The Economic and Social Council concluded its three-day operational activities segment today, with Governments calling on the United Nations to “fundamentally reshape” its development system by outlining new policy directions and partnerships that increased the efficiency, coherence and funding of the Organization’s 27 programmes, funds and specialized agencies.
Welcoming the nationwide ceasefire agreement due to take effect in Syria on Saturday, the United Nations humanitarian chief described the development today as a long-awaited, optimistic sign for millions suffering in the war-torn country.
Concluding its annual session today, the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on Strengthening the Role of the Organization adopted its 2015 draft report and forwarded its recommendations to the General Assembly.
The humanitarian office says that authorities in Fiji have confirmed that 36 people have died and at least two remain missing in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Winston. Moreover, about 97 schools have been damaged or destroyed, and 100 per cent of crops are reported destroyed in the worst-affected areas.
