Public information

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said they are closely following reports about the mobilization of forces and movement of large convoys of armed groups that have increased tensions in and around Tripoli.  The Mission calls on all parties to refrain from any action that could lead to armed clashes.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Sherri Aldis of Canada as Director of the United Nations Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) in Brussels.  She assumed her duties on 14 February 2022.

In Ethiopia, fighting in the northern region of Afar continues to prevent the delivery of aid into neighbouring Tigray.  These clashes are also causing large-scale displacement and increasing humanitarian needs in Afar.

Fifty-five journalists and media workers were killed around the world in 2021, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) – the lowest annual death toll in over a decade.  However, two thirds of those killings took place in countries not experiencing armed conflict and impunity for those crimes remains widespread.

World Braille Day, on 4 January, aims to raise awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication in the full realization of the human rights for blind and partially sighted people.  COVID-19 has revealed how critically important it is to produce essential information in accessible formats.

On Friday, 10 December, the UN Department of Global Communications Civil Society Association Committee selected 19 civil society organizations for formal association with the Department.  The organizations join from 8 countries, including Bangladesh, France, Greece, India, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia and the United States, highlighting the diversity of the new group and the importance of collaboration.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict urged Ethiopia to promptly sign an agreement with the United Nations to prevent and respond to conflict-related sexual violence.  She noted that extreme brutality is a hallmark of the ongoing conflict in the country’s Tigray region.

The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme will host an online panel discussion on medical ethics during and in response to the Holocaust, as well as educational initiatives that draw on the history of the Holocaust to develop ethical leadership in the contemporary context.

Media experts called for the broader application of solutions journalism — an approach focusing on problem-solving responses — in reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as the 2021 International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East concluded today.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the United Nations International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East, today: