The new Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations, Bassam Sabbagh, paid a courtesy call on UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

Nearly eight years after the Security Council first mandated the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme, the senior United Nations disarmament official today described only limited progress towards declaring that dossier closed, as delegates continued to voice divergent views about the neutrality of the global non-proliferation architecture itself.

About 931 million tons of food — or 17 per cent of all food available to consumers in 2019 and roughly equal to 23 million fully loaded 40-ton trucks bumper-to-bumper, enough to circle the Earth seven times — were trashed by households, retailers, restaurants and other food services, a UNEP report says.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Cherith Norman Chalet of the United States as Assistant Secretary‑General for General Assembly and Conference Management in the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management.

Schools for more than 168 million children around the world have been closed for an entire year due to lockdowns, a report from UNICEF says, noting that around 214 million children globally, or one in seven, have missed more than three quarters of their in-person learning.  The most vulnerable may never return, it warns.

The transformation of South Sudan from conflict to recovery is under way, the senior United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today, as he urged the Transitional Government to build on hard-won gains made during its first year in office and accelerate implementation of the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement — or otherwise risk a return to widespread violence.

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message for the celebration of the birthday of the Emperor of Japan, today:

Following are Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s opening remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, held today:

The General Assembly adopted six draft resolutions today, including one — by a recorded vote — that underscored cooperation between the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for International Women’s Day, observed on 8 March: