United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Karla Quintana of Mexico as Head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic, established by the United Nations General Assembly in June 2023 to clarify the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons in Syria and to provide adequate support to victims, survivors and the families of those missing in close cooperation and complementarity with all relevant actors.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council meeting on artificial intelligence and the maintenance of international peace and security, in New York today:

Following reports of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s troops killed in the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine, the Security Council today examined growing military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow amid ongoing disputes over sanctions on the East Asian country.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today considered the Secretariat’s request to lay out $8.5 million in 2025 to take tangible steps to carry out the Pact for the Future, a landmark declaration approved by Member States during a high-level session in September.

At least 184,000 people in Mozambique have been impacted by Tropical Cyclone Chido, with a reported 45 dead and nearly 500 injured, as well as approximately 35,000 homes, 50 health centres and 150 schools destroyed or damaged. The UN and partners have provided 2,000 families food, shelter and other essential supplies.

The collective punishment of the Palestinian people and the relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces is horrific and unjustifiable, a high-level United Nations official told the Security Council today, which also heard from the brother of an Israeli hostage held by Hamas, who implored the 15-member organ not to let his brother’s life to be “used as a bargaining chip”.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Linda Thomas-Greenfield (United States):

With the clock ticking down towards the expiration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as conflicts proliferate in the Middle East, nuclear diplomacy is needed now, the Security Council heard today, even as its members disagreed on both how the Plan veered off-course and how to get it back on track.

In Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that UN-led aid missions to the North Gaza governorate continue to be overwhelmingly denied, especially those seeking to reach besieged areas in Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and parts of Jabalya.

Delegates at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today approved a draft decision that would provide nearly $300,000 in 2025 to support a General Assembly text that, if adopted, would request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on Israel’s obligations as an occupying Power and UN Member State in relation to the presence and activities of the UN, other international organizations and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.