In progress at UNHQ

Noon Briefings


The Secretary-General welcomed the adoption today of General Assembly resolution A/71/L66, which endorsed his proposal for a new United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism.  He stressed that combatting terrorism and preventing violent extremism was one of the Organization’s highest priorities in its work towards international peace and security.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up emergency operations to help people urgently in need of help in Yemen, which is on the brink of famine.  In Syria, WFP delivered food this week to seven hard-to-reach areas in Raqqa and Deir, where regular aid service had been suspended for over three years due to conflict.

Belligerents in eastern Ukraine have repeatedly failed to implement ceasefire agreements, allowing hostilities to claim more lives as the fighting entered its fourth year, the latest human rights report says.  It recorded 36 deaths and 157 injuries, a rise of nearly 50 per cent over the previous reporting period.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi urged Governments today to deliver a massive increase in places available for refugees in third countries, in line with last September’s New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, as the agency opened its annual resettlement consultations.

The United Nations Mission in Mali reports that an attack by unidentified assailants on the Mission’s observation post south-east of the base has left three peacekeepers dead and three others injured.  The Mission condemns the attacks and is determined to continue supporting the peace process and protecting civilians.

The Secretary-General strongly condemned the terrorist attacks on the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the Parliament (Majlis) building in Tehran today. Expressing hope that those responsible be brought to justice, he called on all countries to work together in fighting terrorism while upholding universal rights and values.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warns that without additional funds, some 60,000 Syrian refugee families will be cut from basic and life-saving cash assistance programmes in Lebanon and Jordan as early as July.  UNHCR urgently needs $116 million in Lebanon and $71 million in Jordan.