Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council open date, “Promotion and Strengthening of the Rule of Law in the Maintenance of International Peace and Security: the Rule of Law among Nations”, in New York today:
As the Security Council fully resumed in-person meetings, the invasion of Ukraine at the start of the year by the Russian Federation — a permanent, veto-wielding member of the Council — plunged the 15-nation organ into a fractious new normal, widening pre-existing rifts, making consensus more laborious than ever to achieve and impeding efforts to fulfil their responsibility in maintaining international peace and security.
Unanimously adopting resolution 2673 (2023), the Security Council today decided that the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia shall monitor the implementation of certain provisions of the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace relating to rural reform and ethnic perspectives.
Uganda today marked the end of its Ebola outbreak, with Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Head of the World Health Organization, stressing that Ebola can be defeated when the whole system works together, and Resident United Nations Coordinator in Uganda Susan Ngongi Namondo appealing to the public to continue embracing prevention measures.
In two separate reports released today, the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation said that approximately 5 million children died before their fifth birthday and another 2.1 million children and youth lost their lives in 2021.
Armed groups and violent extremists are increasing their influence in West Africa and the Sahel while repeated coups d’état are destabilizing Governments, political experts from the region informed the Council today.
On Friday, 27 January, the United Nations will observe the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust under the theme “Home and Belonging”. The memorial ceremony will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST in the General Assembly Hall, United Nations Headquarters, New York.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report that the ozone layer is on track to recover within four decades.
The Security Council unanimously decided today to extend the use of the Bab al-Hawa border crossing for the delivery of aid into north-west Syria until 10 July 2023, as members subsequently assessed the propriety of the six-month extension.
Speaking at the largest General Assembly gathering since the COVID-19 pandemic halted in-person events and devastated global travel some three years ago, world leaders this September called on the international community to unite in the face of the conflict in Ukraine, global climate emergency, and emerging food, fuel and cost-of-living crises.
