Amid rising regional tensions and the continuous advance of the 23 March Movement, or M23, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, senior UN officials told the Security Council today that the warring parties must return to the negotiating table and seriously work towards peace, while also welcoming regional efforts to resolve the conflict.

The United Nations and its aid partners in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have launched this year’s Humanitarian Response Plans to assist 2.2 million people in need, seeking a total of $306 million.

Libya’s leaders and security actors are prioritizing political and personal gain over national interests, the United Nations’ top political official told the Security Council today, as the country’s delegate blamed proxy wars for its instability.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s opening remarks, as delivered, at the Member States’ briefing on the second Food Systems Summit Stocktake, in New York today:

During a day-long Security Council debate on practicing multilateralism and reforming global governance today, speakers stressed the urgent need to update the United Nations — founded 80 years ago — including reforms to the Council itself and to the global economic order to better address twenty-first-century challenges.

In an ever-shifting security landscape, ensuring sufficient funding, technology and training, and promoting gender equality in peacekeeping operations while also recognizing the importance of safeguarding vulnerable populations in conflict zones is more critical than ever, speakers told the opening of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, which also marked 60 years since its establishment.

The UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is sheltering and protecting some 1,400 people in its premises in Goma, North Kivu. In recent days, nearly 56,000 displaced persons have relocated to 34 newly created collective centres across Goma, mainly schools, churches and hospitals.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the UN Security Council open debate on the maintenance of international peace and security: practicing multilateralism, reforming and improving global governance, in New York today:

The Minsk Agreements show that the signing of a peace pact alone does not ensure a durable end to conflict, the Security Council heard today as it met a decade after the adoption of Council resolution 2202 (2015), which called for the full implementation of those accords.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Jens Wandel of Denmark as Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Reforms. He was previously appointed to this function from 2018 to 2020 during the implementation phase of the reforms.