United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Sarhad Fatah of Iraq as Deputy Head of Mission for the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen. Mr. Fatah succeeds Muin Shreim of the United States, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his commitment and decades of dedicated service to the Organization.

Demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, the General Assembly today adopted a resolution reiterating its insistence that parties to the conflict there comply with international law, all hostages be released immediately and without conditions, and humanitarian access be ensured.

Sudan’s representative called on the Security Council today to impose an arms and material transport embargo against rebel forces, invaders and mercenaries, and to lift sanctions on the Government forces, as the 15 member organ received an update from its sanctions committee for that country.

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations (IAAC) held its sixty-fourth session from 5 to 8 December, via hybrid format at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The session was presided over by the Chair, Imran Vanker. All the other members of the Committee, namely: Janet St. Laurent (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Bradley, Anton Kosyanenko and Suresh Sharma, were in attendance.

The court set up to carry out remaining functions of the criminal tribunals that investigated and prosecuted serious crimes committed during the Yugoslav wars and the 1994 Rwanda genocide has finally transitioned to its truly residual phase, its President said today as she detailed plans to restructure and streamline its internal framework, while speakers underscored that the conclusion of the latest trials in no way diminishes its relevance.

In South Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that more than half of the country’s population is going hungry, and an estimated 1.6 million children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition through June 2024.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President José Javier de la Gasca Lopezdominguez (Ecuador):

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, flew from New York to Dubai on Wednesday, 29 November. He arrived on Thursday evening.

Briefers and delegates offered contrasting views in the Security Council today on the provision of arms to Ukraine and the Russian Federation in their ongoing conflict — with numerous speakers charging Moscow with diverting the 15-member organ’s attention from its aggression by convening the eleventh meeting on the topic since the outbreak of hostilities.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the Tenth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, in Atlanta, United States, today: