Peacekeeping

Some 10,000 people have sought refuge in Uganda’s Kisoro district, following violent clashes that began on Monday in the Rutshuru territory.  The United Nations Refugee Agency is working with the Government of Uganda and humanitarian partners to provide assistance.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Barbara Woodward (United Kingdom):

As Ramadan begins, the soaring cost of food staples in import-dependent Middle Eastern and North African countries is creating ever greater challenges for millions of families already struggling to keep hunger at bay, the World Food Programme said, warning that millions will struggle to buy even basic foods.

The Security Council today unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing a previous decision it made with the African Union to reconfigure the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) into the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, as speakers underscored the need to continue countering al-Shabaab and expressed hope that the Government of Somalia will gradually assume greater security responsibilities going forward.

Nearly half of all pregnancies worldwide, about 121 million a year, are unintended, a report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says, warning the Ukraine and other conflicts are expected to drive an increase through disruption of access to contraception and growing sexual violence.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The United Nations remains concerned about reports of continued tensions in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.  All efforts must be made to ensure full respect for the ceasefire and full implementation of agreed commitments.

The activities of armed groups in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo present a grave threat to efforts to improve national security and regional stability, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today, stressing the need for a comprehensive political strategy to address the conflict’s structural causes.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees today said the number of Nicaraguan refugees and asylum seekers in Costa Rica has doubled in the last eight months, reaching more than 150,000 people.  This represents 3 per cent of Costa Rica’s total population of 5 million.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today released a report that says that groundwater, which accounts for 99 per cent of all liquid freshwater on Earth, is being undervalued, mismanaged and even abused.