On a complex global landscape marred by conflict, United Nations peacekeeping remains vital for protecting civilian populations, averting festering hostilities and preventing violence, speakers stressed today as the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations held the first meeting of its 2024 session, further underscoring the need for missions to adapt to evolving threats.

The Security Council today failed to adopt a resolution that would have demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza owing to a negative vote of the United States — a permanent member of the Council — marking the second time Washington, D.C., has blocked such a text since early December 2023.

Following a surge of hostilities in Ukraine over the weekend, humanitarian organizations have provided materials for emergency repairs to houses. Meanwhile, the UN and its partners are addressing the impact of oil spillage on water sources in Kharkiv after a strike on an oil storage facility in that area on 9 February.

The international community must continue to accompany Somalia along its path to full ownership of its security responsibility, senior officials told the Security Council today, as members warned that any security vacuum could be exploited by Al-Shabaab insurgents and undermine the advances made so far in the country’s political, economic and security situations.

The new Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations, Koussay Aldahhak, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

In Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that as intensified air strikes on Rafah continue, people are reportedly moving out of Gaza’s southern-most governorate towards Deir al Balah.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Munich Security Conference today:

The following statement was issued today by the Bureau of the General Assembly’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People:

A new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), Save the Children and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) shows that globally, 1.4 billion children from the day they are born to the age of 15 lack any form of social protection, leaving them vulnerable to disease, poor nutrition and poverty.

Tackling the threat of terrorism through comprehensive approaches remains a priority, the Security Council heard today from senior counter-terrorism experts, with many speakers emphasizing that force alone is not the solution.