Continued violence in parts of Sudan, particularly sexual and ethnically targeted violence, risks engulfing the country in a prolonged conflict with regional spillover, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today, as they warned that the country’s descent into a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe continues to deepen.

In Lebanon, after a week-long suspension of services in Ein el Hilweh camp due to armed clashes, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has resumed operations. Health Centre II reopened today. UNRWA is also preparing to assess and clear remnants of war from affected zones.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message to the Nagasaki Peace Memorial on the seventy-eighth anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, held today:

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The United Nations is opening a public call for nominations of experts to serve on the multi-stakeholder High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence, which has been convened by the Secretary-General to carry out analysis and advance recommendations for the international governance of artificial intelligence (AI).

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Ramiz Alakbarov of Azerbaijan as the UN Resident Coordinator in Ethiopia, with the host Government’s approval. He will also serve as the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country.

On 20 July 2023, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014) held informal consultations to consider the midterm update of the Panel of Experts, submitted in accordance with paragraph 3 of resolution 2675 (2023). The Committee heard a presentation via VTC by the Panel of Experts. The presentation was followed by an interactive discussion between Committee members and the Panel. Subsequently, the Committee discussed the recommendations contained in the midterm update.

The Technical Secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) efforts to organize the next round of consultations with Syria continue to be unsuccessful, a senior official of the United Nations for Disarmament Affairs told the Security Council today, stressing that full cooperation by Damascus is essential to closing its chemical weapons file.

The United Nations Children’s Fund says that three in four children in South Asia — 460 million boys and girls — are exposed to extreme high temperature, compared to only one in three children globally, with toddlers, malnourished children and pregnant women most vulnerable to heat stroke and other serious effects.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message, delivered by Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu, at the seventy-eighth anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, in Hiroshima, Japan, today: