Our colleagues at the United Nations Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) issued a weekend press release saying that a peacekeeper in the Tessalit camp fired at three of his colleagues on Saturday night. Two peacekeepers were killed and the other injured. An investigation is underway to determine the circumstances of the incident.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
A new report on South Sudan published today by the United Nations Human Rights Office describes a multitude of violations, including a Government-operated scorched earth policy, and deliberate targeting of civilians for killing, rape and pillage.
A new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) says the region continued to be the world’s most disaster-prone in 2015, suffering more than half the 344 disasters worldwide, which resulted in more than 16,000 deaths and some 59 million affected.
A total of 34 countries, including 27 in Africa, are currently in need of external assistance for food due to drought, flooding and civil conflicts, according to a new edition of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Crop Prospects and Food Situation report, which is available online.
In his message for International Women’s Day, the Secretary-General said that we can only address gender inequality by empowering women as agents of change. He called on the world to devote solid funding, courageous advocacy and unbending political will to achieving gender equality around the world.
Ján Kubiš, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, strongly condemned the terrorist bombing yesterday in the city of Hilla, in southern Iraq, which caused scores of casualties. He calls on Iraqis not to be cowed by the terrorists’ murderous campaign which seeks to undermine the country’s unity.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that in February alone at least 168 civilians were killed and 193 injured in Yemen, around two thirds of them by Coalition airstrikes. In all, the Human Rights Office has documented 3,081 civilians killed and 5,733 injured since 26 March 2015.
The Secretary-General met with Burkina Faso’s President in Ouagadougou, the nation’s capital, this morning and said he was able to see remarkable progress in his third visit to the country, but remained deeply concerned about terrorist attacks across the region.
The Secretary-General welcomes the Security Council’s adoption today of resolution 2270 (2016) in response to the recent nuclear test and launch using ballistic missile technology by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and urges the country to abide by it.
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, today announced that intra-Syrian peace talks will resume on 9 March, two days after the original target date, in order to allow adequate time to address logistical and practical matters.