Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for World Humanitarian Day, observed on 19 August:
Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, speakers in the Security Council today examined the justification and consequences of arms supplies from the West to Kyiv, with many arguing that these weapons support that country’s self-defence against the Russian Federation’s invasion and others expressing concern that such military assistance makes a peaceful settlement a distant hope.
In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, an elementary school was demolished days before the start of the new school year. It served pupils from the few Palestinian families remaining in the herding community of Ein Samiya, following the displacement of most amid settler violence and diminishing grazing land.
Rarely has the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea been “more painfully closed” to the outside world than it is today, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as several members opposed the organ’s consideration of the human rights situation in that country, as it does not pose a threat to international peace and security.
Movement through the Lachin Corridor — connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world — must be reopened immediately, speakers told the Security Council today, as they called on both Armenia and Azerbaijan to refrain from the politicization of humanitarian aid to meet the civilian population’s needs and normalize relations for a future peace treaty.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Linda Thomas-Greenfield (United States):
On 16 August 2023, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006) enacted the amendments, specified with strikethrough and/or underline, in the entries below on its Sanctions List of individuals and entities.
According to the World Food Programme, some 7.3 million food-insecure people could see their situation worsen due to the unfolding crisis in Niger. Humanitarian exemptions to sanctions and border closures are required to avert a rapid deterioration of the food security and malnutrition situation.
Despite relative calm since the expiration of a truce in October 2022, Houthi militias in Yemen continue to threaten the country’s fragile security, humanitarian and economic situations, speakers told the Security Council today, calling for urgent action by all parties to relaunch the political peace process.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations continues to support efforts to protect civilians amid increasing attacks by the CODECO armed group in Ituri Province.
