On 14 December 2023, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al‑Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities enacted the amendments specified with strikethrough and/or underline in the entries 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 1 of Security Council resolution 2610 (2021), and adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.

Speakers in the General Assembly today examined the recent use of veto by the United States against an amendment to Security Council resolution 2720 (2023) on Gaza that would have called for “an urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access” and for “urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities”.

In South Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is extremely concerned about the well-being of refugees and returnees fleeing the current hostilities in Sudan — as South Sudan continues to see an influx of new arrivals from across the border.

The year 2023 witnessed a three-decade high in the number of conflicts worldwide, even before simmering situations such as those in Sudan and the Occupied Palestinian Territory boiled over. In the face of escalating violence, however, consensus proved elusive in the Security Council, with its veto-casting permanent members — primarily the United States and the Russian Federation — impeding swift, effective action to address deteriorating situations around the world.

Following the announcement made on behalf of the Chairman of the Nippon Foundation, Yohei Sasakawa, at the UN Ocean Conference in July 2022, the United Nations-Nippon Foundation (UNNF) capacity-building programmes implemented by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (the Division) are set to expand. Commencing in August 2024, a new three-month Ocean Governance Fellowship for Small Island Developing States will be launched to complement the existing UNNF Fellowship and Strategic Needs Fellowship.

The acting Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen has called for a thorough and expeditious investigation into the killing of an aid worker on 5 January

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Nicolas de Rivière (France):

On 19 December 2023, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al‑Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities enacted the amendments specified with strikethrough and/or underline in the entries 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 1 of Security Council resolution 2610 (2021), and adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.

In December, the World Food Programme reached more than 975,000 vulnerable people with food aid across Gaza and the West Bank. For its part, the United Nations Children’s Fund has been delivering vital supplies to Gaza, including vaccines, medical supplies, hygiene kits, and ready-to-use infant formula.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of María Angela Holguín Cuéllar of Colombia as his Personal Envoy on Cyprus. The Secretary-General has asked Ms. Holguín to assume a good offices role on his behalf to search for common ground on the way forward and to advise him on the Cyprus issue.