The new Permanent Representative of Niger to the United Nations, Yaou Sangaré Bakary, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

Effective social safety nets and inclusive digital connectivity are both required and lacking in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, speakers stressed as the Economic and Social Council’s Development Cooperation Forum concluded its annual session today, as panel discussions and interactive dialogues provided delegates with an opportunity to consider how best to foster these necessities within the broader framework of development cooperation.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Kavilmadam Ramaswami Parvathy of India as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Tajikistan, with the host Government’s approval. She takes up her post on 15 March.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the Sulaimani Forum, in Baghdad, today:

As the general discussion of the Commission on the Status of Women concluded today, women and girls from all corners of the earth and of all ages and identities underscored the importance of inclusion, gender equitable assistive technology and gender transformative approaches in achieving gender equality in the digital spheres.

Following the two cyclones that hit Vanuatu in March, the United Nations resident coordinator has met with Government ministers, the Disaster Management Office and Organization staff to understand challenges, needs and ways the United Nations can further support recovery.

The Security Council today decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan for one year, as two delegates abstained over the incorporation of certain language while raising issues regarding the penholder’s approach.

​​​​​​​While the overall security situation in Yemen remains stable amidst improved regional relations, the country urgently needs sustained international support to counter a dire humanitarian and economic scenario that has left 17 million people counting on aid agencies to get through 2023, briefers told the Security Council today.

​​​​​​​With development deficits worsening at a time when progress is needed more than ever, the international community must make a quantum leap in leveraging resources and partnerships, speakers at the Economic and Social Council’s Development Cooperation Forum stressed as they opened its annual session.

The Security Council heard today dissenting assertions from three briefers — two calling attention to Russophobia in Ukraine and one countering that claim as a colonial endeavour to justify war crimes — in a meeting requested by the Russian Federation, as delegates weighed in with their own prescriptions.