The UN refugee aAgency says it is extremely concerned about reports of anti-Balaka militiamen preventing civilians from leaving the Central African Republic and attacking them along the way. Over the past two weeks, the Agency’s staff in Cameroon has been seeing refugees arrive with wounds from machetes or gunshots. New arrivals say militias have blocked main roads to Cameroon, forcing them to wade through the bush for two to three months before reaching the border.

The Central African Republic, the “women, peace and security” agenda, and security sector reform would be among the Security Council’s top priorities in April, the organ’s President for April said at Headquarters today.

The Security Council met last night to discuss the deteriorating situation in Ukraine. The Secretary-General has continued to speak out for the exercise of maximum restraint by all concerned. He continues to urge all others with influence on the situation to immediately and publicly call for restraint and a return to calm.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued its report on Ukraine today, saying that misinformation, propaganda and incitement to hatred need to be urgently countered in the country to avoid the further escalation of tension.

The Secretary-General condemns the shocking mass abduction of schoolgirls in north-eastern Nigeria on 14 April and calls for their immediate release and safe return to their families.

The Secretary-General strongly condemns today’s attack on civilians and United Nations peacekeepers in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan protection-of-civilians site in Bor, in the capital of Jonglei State, in South Sudan. And UNMISS says that assailants came to the base under the guise of peaceful demonstrators intending to present a petition to UNMISS.

Human rights investigators from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan confirmed targeted killings of civilians by the Sudan People's Liberation Army in the town of Bentiu on 15 and 16 April. Calling for those responsible to be held accountable, the Mission also extracted hundreds of civilians being threatened with violence in Bentiu and Rubkona and is currently protecting over 12,000 civilians in its base.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia condemned the second killing in less than 48 hours of a Member of that country’s Federal Parliament. Both killings have been claimed by Al-Shabaab. A media worker for Radio Dalsan was also killed and the Special Representative called for such personnel to be able to carry out their work without fear of attack.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Mali, Bert Koenders, told the Security Council this morning that the country had made significant strides and that the international community has been critical in that regard. He added that the difficulties of the road ahead should not be underestimated, noting that political dialogue remained the first priority.

This morning the Secretary-General is making a round of phone calls to Heads of State or Government of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development to express his support for their efforts in bringing President Salva Kiir of South Sudan and opposition leader Riek Machar to the negotiating table. He feels the two need to be warned strongly of the consequences of their actions before the country descends into yet further violence.