The year 2021 began with “a degree of guarded optimism” for progress towards the settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the United Nations mediator for the Middle East peace told the Security Council today, citing renewed international efforts to broker direct peace negotiations and cooperation between the two sides, including in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message to “Still We Rise”, the cultural event to mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, held today:
Dear friends, ladies and gentlemen,
I am pleased to join you as we mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message, as delivered by Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, to the Conference on Strengthening the European Union Role in Global Health, today:
The first months of 2021 have seen the peace process in Sudan reach a “significant new stage”, with notable reductions in clashes between Government forces and rebel factions in Darfur, the head of that country’s sanctions committee told the Security Council in a videoconference meeting today.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the General Assembly meeting marking the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, today:
Recent progress towards peace and democracy in Libya has demonstrated that once seemingly insurmountable divisions can be overcome with determined political will, the United Nations top official for that country told the Security Council today, citing the successful launch of the Government of National Unity.
The Security Council expressed its deep concern today at the political and multiple other protracted crises in Haiti, urging stakeholders to set aside their differences and calling upon them to prepare for free, fair, transparent and credible presidential elections later in 2021.
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, today:
Domestic violence hotlines and programmes aimed at closing gender pay gaps are among an array of tools several States are using to integrate women’s empowerment into national sustainable development strategies, delegates told the Commission on the Status of Women, as it continued its sixty-fifth session with an interactive dialogue and general discussion.
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members, observed on 25 March:
