Somalia

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Koro Bessho (Japan):

The Secretary-General, in a message to the United Nations Environment Assembly opening in Nairobi today, said that solutions to prevent, mitigate and manage pollution existed, and that beating pollution would help reduce poverty, improve health, create decent jobs, address climate change and protect life on earth and sea.

UNICEF released a report today that calls on world leaders to include specific commitments to protect uprooted children when drafting global migration policies.  The call precedes the preparatory meeting on the Global Compact for Migration, to be held in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, from 4 to 6 December.  The report is available online.

The Security Council today extended the modified arms embargo on Somalia and the authorization for maritime interdiction of illicit arms imports and charcoal exports until 15 November 2018, as well as the renewal of the arms ban on Eritrea for that same period.

The Security Council today renewed for another year its authorization for international naval forces to join in fighting piracy off Somalia’s coast, underscoring that such crime exacerbated instability in the country and fuelled corruption and terrorism.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the parties to the Syrian conflict to allow badly needed food and medical supplies to get into Eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus, where at least 350,000 civilians remain besieged.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is increasingly concerned by escalating displacement in several key regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 3.9 million people are internally displaced and the challenges of getting aid to people in need are growing fast.

Irina Bokova, Executive Director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, condemned today the killing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta yesterday.  She welcomed the Prime Minister’s pledge to ensure justice in the crime against the right of free expression.

The Secretary-General, expressing his solidarity with the people of Somalia after the brutal attacks in Mogadishu, said he was disgusted by the unprecedented violence.  He urged all Somalis to unite in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism and work together in building a functional and inclusive federal State.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President François Delattre (France):