The following statement by the Middle East Quartet (United Nations, Russian Federation, United States, European Union) was issued today:

Speakers called today for greater transparency in the procedures and practices of committees established to monitor United Nations sanctions and improve communication with affected countries, as the Security Council held a general debate on the working methods of its subsidiary bodies.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights today expressed his “utmost alarm” at the rapidly worsening ““grotesque” situation in and around Aleppo and other parts of Syria, where he said that shocking violations and abuses are being committed on a daily basis.  He condemned those acts unequivocally.

On 11 February 2016, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) enacted the amendments specified with underline and strikethrough in the entry below on its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 2 of Security Council resolution 2253(2015) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations:

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

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Lieutenant General Balla Keïta of Senegal as the Force Commander of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

Following is Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, delivered by Gyan Chandra Acharya, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, to the General Assembly special event “Building Synergy and Coherence in the Implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action in the Context of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda”, in New York today:

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks as prepared for delivery at the seventieth anniversary commemoration of the establishment of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) in New York today:

The Security Council today renewed until 12 March 2017 the mandate of the Panel of Experts monitoring sanctions imposed on those behind instability in Sudan’s western Darfur region, expressing regret that members of the Government as well as armed groups continued to disregard its demands, while also signalling its intention to impose measures against parties perpetuating violence.

The Secretary-General today told an informal stakeholder meeting on the General Assembly’s upcoming special session on the world drug problem.  He said illicit drugs continue to promote violence, endanger communities and undermine health, and that the problem is linked to corruption, terrorism and illicit flows of money.