The Security Council today extended its arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban on the Central African Republic until 29 January 2016 and the mandate of the Expert Panel assisting the Sanctions Committee through 29 February 2016.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message to an informal meeting of the General Assembly to address concerns of a rise in anti‑Semitism worldwide, in New York today:

United Nations operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo should be drawn down gradually, in consultation with the Government and without reversing gains in stability and civilian protection achieved so far, the Head of United Nations peacekeeping told the Security Council today.

Faced with “the worst hostilities in eastern Ukraine since a ceasefire” and accusations of increased Russian support to separatists, the top United Nations political official told the Security Council this afternoon that all actors must urgently work to implement the Minsk agreements of September 2014.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s opening remarks at an event, entitled “Why Have We Failed in Preventing Genocide and How to Change That”, organized by the Permanent Mission of Poland to the United Nations, in New York today:

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the national workshop on implementation of Security Council resolutions 1624 (2005) and 2178 (2014), in Mombasa, Kenya, today:

Presenting Ebola response requirements in Davos today, senior United Nations officials said the needs for the first six months of 2015 amount to $1.5 billion. With almost $500 million already available, the appeal is now to fund the gap of $1 billion. Resources spent in 2014 contributed to a decline in new cases.

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s message, as delivered by Michael Møller, Acting Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament, to the Conference on Disarmament, in Geneva, today:

Marking the drawdown of the United Nations Office in Burundi at the end of 2014, the Head of the Organization’s political affairs department, in a detailed summary to the Security Council today, underscored the progress made in that country’s peacebuilding over the past decade, as well as the remaining challenges regarding upcoming elections, democracy and development.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Cristián Barros Melet (Chile):