The Secretary-General is in Panama today where he will address the seventh Summit of the Americas. This Sunday, he will be in Qatar to deliver an opening address at the UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is calling for a pause in the hostilities around the Yarmouk camp in Damascus, Syria, along with humanitarian access to civilians who need assistance and the safe evacuation of civilians who want to leave.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns that children continue to be killed, injured, displaced and put at increasing risk of disease as the conflict continues in Yemen. The Agency says the conflict is exacerbating an already precarious situation for children in a country prone to food insecurity.
Head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) updated the Secretary-General this morning on the situation of Palestinian refugees trapped in the Yarmouk camp in Damascus, Syria. In a statement this weekend, it demanded that civilians be able to evacuate safely.
Secretary-General says the UN inquiry report on 27 January’s violent demonstration in Mali has determined that members of a Formed Police Unit of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) used “unauthorized and excessive force on civilian protesters”.
Calling on all Nigerians to accept the outcome of the recent elections, the Secretary-General congratulated President-elect Muhammadu Buhari and commended President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for his leadership throughout the electoral process and statesmanship in upholding the democratic process.
The Secretary-General, addressing the third pledging conference for Syria today in Kuwait, said that the country has lost nearly four decades of human development. The Syrian people are the victims of the worst humanitarian crisis of our time but that they are not asking for sympathy; they are asking for help.
The Secretary-General is in Kuwait, where he will participate in the third pledging conference for Syria. Earlier today, he visited Baghdad, where he met with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, President Fuad Masum and Speaker Saleem al-Jabouri. He also spoke by phone with President Massoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
At the Security Council’s open debate this morning, the Secretary-General expressed deep concern over the grave dangers facing minorities in parts of the Middle East, warning that millions of lives and the social fabric of entire countries are at stake. He said the United Nations will launch an action plan in September to prevent violent extremism.
The Secretary-General notes that Saudi Arabia, at the Yemeni Government’s request, has begun military operations in Yemen, and is aware of reports that other States are supporting those operations. He notes that despite escalation, negotiations remain the only option to ultimately resolve the Yemeni crisis.