Political affairs

Following are UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ remarks at the Security Council open debate on integrating effective resilience-building in peace operations for sustainable development, today in New York:

In Syria, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator there expressed serious concern yesterday over the ongoing cholera outbreak in the country. The number of confirmed cholera cases so far is 20 in Aleppo, 4 in Lattakia and 2 in Damascus.

On Saturday, accompanied by Pakistan’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, the Secretary-General travelled to Balochistan, Larkana and Sukkur, in Sindh Province, and met with a group of women and men who abandoned everything to help their neighbours reach safety as their houses flooded. He said he had never seen climate carnage on this scale.

The World Food Programme’s first humanitarian shipment of grain from Ukraine, delivered under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, has arrived in Ethiopia and will be distributed in the coming weeks. The shipment will support one month of assistance to over 1.5 million people who have been displaced by drought and conflict.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message, delivered on his behalf by Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, to the United Nations Global Congress of Victims of Terrorism, in New York today:

Today is the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies. This year’s theme is “The Air We Share” and focuses on the transboundary nature of air pollution, stressing the need for collective accountability and action.

The first United Nations Global Congress of Victims of Terrorism, organized by the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, will be held on 8 and 9 September at the United Nations Headquarters in New York under the theme of “Advancing the Rights and Needs of Victims of Terrorism”.

In Yemen, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that aid agencies remain concerned that the humanitarian crisis there will deteriorate sharply in the coming months largely due to economic problems, including a weaker currency and higher prices due to the Ukraine war.

The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) has, in what it calls a major breakthrough, brokered a peace accord between the Misseriya and Ngok Dinka communities, who agreed to dialogue to protect people, livestock and property, and to find a sustainable solution to the final status of Abyei.

The international diplomacy needed to spur humanitarian and early recovery efforts will be more precarious against the new backdrop of military operations in Ukraine, the top United Nations official on Syria warned the Security Council today, as he briefed members on recent developments.