Briefing the Security Council today on Mali, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said that there had been progress in the implementation of the peace agreement, including with the establishment of interim authorities in a number of cities. However, he noted that there remain delays and that the gains are fragile.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The High Representative for Disarmament Affairs briefed the Security Council today on the alleged chemical weapons attack in Khan Shaykhun, southern rural Idleb, Syria. If confirmed, he said, this would be the largest single chemical weapons attack in Syria since the Ghouta attack in August 2013.
Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien told the Brussels Conference on Syria today that humanitarian workers cannot stop indiscriminate attacks, sieges and forced displacements, but will continue to provide a lifeline to millions in need, including through regular programmes, cross-line, cross-border and air operations.
Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akıncı, and Greek Cypriot leader, Nicos Anastasiades, held an open and constructive exchange about the challenges experienced over the last months. The leaders reconfirmed their commitment to finding a solution in the best interest of all Cypriots.
The Secretary-General took notice with disappointment and alarm of the decision by Israel to build a new settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. He condemns all unilateral actions that, like the present one, threaten peace and undermine the two-State solution.
As the possibility of famine looms, more children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, cholera or acute watery diarrhoea in Somalia and the number receiving food aid more than doubled in January and February from the same period in 2016, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Parties to the conflict in Syria have reportedly reached an agreement to evacuate people from Madaya and Zabadani in Rural Damascus, and Foah and Kefraya in Idleb, known as the Four Towns. The United Nations was not part of the negotiations or the agreement, but is monitoring developments closely.
The Secretary-General visited the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan today in what he called a visit of solidarity. While there, he toured a number of projects run by UN agencies for some 80,000 residents of the camp. Addressing the press, he appealed to the parties to the conflict in Syria to understand that we must make peace.
This week marks two years since the escalation of the conflict in Yemen, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien said last night. Yemen is now on the brink of famine, with nearly 19 million people — more than two thirds of the population — in need humanitarian aid.
Today is World Tuberculosis Day, and UNAIDS is urging countries to do much more to reduce the number of tuberculosis (TB) deaths among people living with HIV. The most common cause of death among people living with HIV, TB caused the deaths of 400,000 of the 1.1 million people who died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2015.