The Secretary-General welcomed the lifting of the siege on the town of Amerli in Iraq. Due to the actions of the Iraqi Security Forces, the Kurdish Peshmerga and others, along with air support from the United States, a major humanitarian, as well as human rights disaster was successfully averted.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
Updating the situation of peacekeepers in the Golan, the Spokesman said 44 Fijian troops are being detained and movement was still restricted for 72 Filipino troops. The United Nations is engaging with Member States who may have influence over armed opposition elements to encourage the peacekeepers’ safe release.
The Secretary-General is alarmed by reports that fighting in eastern Ukraine has spread southward, near the border of the Sea of Azov and the Russian Federation. If confirmed, this will mark a dangerous escalation in the Ukrainian crisis. The international community cannot allow a further escalation.
For the first time since 2007, a World Food Programme humanitarian convoy crossed from Egypt into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah gate. WFP says that it is important that it has access to the Strip from different routes to ensure a constant flow of supplies to meet the growing needs of people affected by the violence.
The Security Council welcomed progress against armed groups in Africa’s Great Lakes region. But it regretted the lack of significant progress made towards neutralizing the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda, which it called a priority in bringing stability to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region.
On the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the Spokesman said air travel restrictions are not warranted. The virus is not airborne, nor is it likely to spread through water or food, but rather through direct contact with the bodily fluids of a sick person.
Continuing her mission to Ukraine, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator said the humanitarian situation has deteriorated quite rapidly and that the United Nations needs to see how to support the authorities in reaching the nearly 200,000 people who have been uprooted.
In his remarks during the Security Council’s open debate on conflict prevention, the Secretary-General said that one of his priorities was improving the United Nations’ ability to act early and act preventively, emphasizing that when Member States joined forces, much could be achieved, as seen with the Council’s consensus on removing chemical weapons from Syria.
The Secretary-General condemned the horrific murder of journalist James Foley, stating that the abominable crime underscored the campaign of terror that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant continue to wage against the people of Iraq and Syria.
To mark World Humanitarian Day, the Secretary-General participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at Headquarters to honour aid workers killed in the line of duty and delivered remarks at a high-level event in the Economic and Social Council. New figures published by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs show that 2013 set a new record for violence against aid groups.