The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) until 15 March 2019, demanding that parties end the fighting and signalling its intention to consider all measures, including an arms embargo, against those obstructing peace in the war-torn nation.
The Secretary-General is encouraged by the announcement of an agreement between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to hold a summit meeting by May. He reiterates his support for all efforts towards peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Briefing the Security Council today on the outcome of a recently completed review of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), officials voiced concern over such challenges as the politicization of the peacekeeping operation’s protection of civilian sites, urging the 15-member organ to consider those elements in the upcoming renewal of — and possible adjustments to — its mandate on the ground.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan said it had recalled a unit of police officers from Wau and confined them to barracks after a preliminary investigation into allegations of sexual exploitation.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is calling for calm and restraint after reports of a refugee protest turning violent in Rwanda’s Kiziba refugee camp. The camp hosts over 17,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, around 77 per cent of which are women and children.
Our humanitarian colleagues are concerned for the safety and protection of 2 million men, women and children living in Syria’s Idlib Governorate, where air strikes and shelling continue to be reported daily, resulting in civilian deaths and injuries, as well as the destruction of civilian infrastructure.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that the 2017/2018 season should end with a record global cereal output. The forecast had been raised 13.5 million tons since December 2017, due largely to higher maize output expected in China, Mexico and the European Union. FAO's Food Price Index in January was down almost 3 per cent year-on-year.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and its partners have launched a funding appeal for $157 million to help 250,000 people impacted by the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin region. Since it began in 2013, the Boko Haram conflict has internally displaced 2.4 million people.
United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock and United Nations Development Programme Head Achim Steiner are in Somalia to bring attention to the recently launched $1.5 billion aid appeal to avert famine and build resilience in the country. Some 5.4 million people need life-saving humanitarian assistance.
Following are UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ remarks to the consultative meeting on South Sudan, with the United Nations, Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) and African Union, in Addis Ababa today:
