Rarely has the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea been “more painfully closed” to the outside world than it is today, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as several members opposed the organ’s consideration of the human rights situation in that country, as it does not pose a threat to international peace and security.
Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, speakers in the Security Council today examined the justification and consequences of arms supplies from the West to Kyiv, with many arguing that these weapons support that country’s self-defence against the Russian Federation’s invasion and others expressing concern that such military assistance makes a peaceful settlement a distant hope.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Linda Thomas-Greenfield (United States):
Despite relative calm since the expiration of a truce in October 2022, Houthi militias in Yemen continue to threaten the country’s fragile security, humanitarian and economic situations, speakers told the Security Council today, calling for urgent action by all parties to relaunch the political peace process.
Movement through the Lachin Corridor — connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world — must be reopened immediately, speakers told the Security Council today, as they called on both Armenia and Azerbaijan to refrain from the politicization of humanitarian aid to meet the civilian population’s needs and normalize relations for a future peace treaty.
On 16 August 2023, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006) enacted the amendments, specified with strikethrough and/or underline, in the entries below on its Sanctions List of individuals and entities.
On 24 July 2023, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2127 (2013) concerning the Central African Republic heard a briefing from Harold Adlai Agyeman, Chair of the Committee, in connection with the report of his visit to the Central African Republic from 6 to 9 June 2023.
Continued violence in parts of Sudan, particularly sexual and ethnically targeted violence, risks engulfing the country in a prolonged conflict with regional spillover, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today, as they warned that the country’s descent into a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe continues to deepen.
On 20 July 2023, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014) held informal consultations to consider the midterm update of the Panel of Experts, submitted in accordance with paragraph 3 of resolution 2675 (2023). The Committee heard a presentation via VTC by the Panel of Experts. The presentation was followed by an interactive discussion between Committee members and the Panel. Subsequently, the Committee discussed the recommendations contained in the midterm update.
The Technical Secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) efforts to organize the next round of consultations with Syria continue to be unsuccessful, a senior official of the United Nations for Disarmament Affairs told the Security Council today, stressing that full cooperation by Damascus is essential to closing its chemical weapons file.
