The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) for six months, until 30 June 2016, underscoring the need for the Force to have at its disposal all necessary means to carry out its mandate safely and securely.
In efforts to ensure that humanitarian assistance reached people in need throughout Syria by the most direct routes, the Security Council today unanimously adopted resolution 2258 (2015), thus renewing for a period of 12 months two decisions taken in its resolution 2165 (2014) that authorized passage of aid into that country.
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today examined the proposed additional costs related to the holding of a high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS in June 2016.
The Security Council today extended and adjusted its sanctions regime against individuals and entities affiliated with the Taliban – clarifying exemptions to travel bans and asset freezes, as well as language on the need to combat the financing of terrorism – deciding to review the implementation of those and other measures in 18 months.
With 2015 drawing to a close, Syria continued to sink “deeper and deeper into violence and brutality”, top United Nations officials told the Security Council today, urging parties to the conflict to allow humanitarian aid to enter and the international community to fund a $3.2 billion appeal for 2016.
Over the weekend, Special Envoy for Syria Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed briefed the press in Geneva on the Yemen peace talks, noting that despite numerous violations of the ceasefire the parties made serious progress and agreed to a negotiating framework for a comprehensive settlement. The talks will resume on 14 January 2016.
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:
The new Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso to the United Nations, Yemdaogo Eric Tiare, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today.
The new Permanent Representative of Uruguay to the United Nations, Elbio Oscar Rosselli Frieri, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today.
NEW YORK, 21 December 2015 (Joint Investigative Mechanism) — The three-member leadership panel of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism, led by its Head, Virginia Gamba, was in Damascus on 17 December for meetings with the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic.
