Iran’s delegate described United States sanctions against his country as “tantamount to economic terrorism”, while a senior United Nations official called for preventing a serious confrontation in the region, as the Security Council considered the milestone 2015 agreement governing Tehran’s nuclear activities.

As waning multilateralism and burgeoning inequalities threaten to side-track the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the General Assembly today adopted 47 resolutions and four related decisions aimed at bolstering nation’s efforts to reach agreed goals.

On 18 November 2019, the Coordinator of the Panel of Experts on South Sudan briefed the members of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2206 (2015) concerning South Sudan in connection with the Panel’s interim report, which was submitted in pursuance of paragraph 3 of resolution 2471 (2019).

In Syria, the World Food Programme is now bringing aid to 1 million people per month through cross-border mechanisms.  The situation in the north-west remains alarming, with families in Idlib burning tires and old clothes to stay warm, reports Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Ursula Mueller.

The scale of humanitarian needs in Syria will remain vast in 2020, with an estimated 11 million civilians projected to require assistance on a regular basis and 5 million in acute need of help, a senior humanitarian official told the Security Council today, urging that a mandate for the cross-border delivery of vital aid through neighbouring countries be renewed.

Expressing concern that ongoing military activities have the potential to escalate tensions between Israel and Syria, the Security Council today decided to renew the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) for six months.

The Security Council today decided to extend until 20 December 2020 the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), along with its Intervention Brigade.

Following are United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres’ remarks at a ceremony marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations Global Service Centre, in Brindisi, Italy, today:

The General Assembly proclaimed 2022‑2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages today, inviting indigenous peoples — as custodians — to initiate ideas for preserving this endangered facet of their cultural and social life, as it adopted 60 resolutions and one decision recommended by its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).

With extraordinary political change under way in Sudan, its transitional Government must ensure justice for the victims of atrocities in Darfur by either prosecuting the five suspects wanted by the International Criminal Court, including former President Omer Hassan Ahmed al‑Bashir, in Sudanese courts or to send them to The Hague for trial without delay, the Chief Prosecutor told the Security Council today.