Syria

The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen briefed the Security Council, warning of alarming levels of violence affecting civilians and emphasizing an acute need for a negotiated settlement and inclusive peace process at a time of sharply shifting political dynamics following the killing of the former President.

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.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has reported that refugees fleeing militia violence in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and arriving in Zambia have crossed the 12,000 mark, with 80 per cent of them women and children, driven out by extreme brutality of rampaging militias.

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.

Although the United Nations and its partners were continuing to deliver life‑saving aid despite constant challenges, some 13.1 million people in Syria were still in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, the Under‑Secretary‑General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council today.

United Nations humanitarian flights to Yemen resumed on 25 November, with two commercial vessels having arrived in Hodaidah carrying 35,020 metric tons of wheat and flour.  Three vessels carrying nearly 65,000 metric tons of food have been cleared by the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism and are awaiting permission from the Saudi Arabia-led coalition to enter the port.

Newly released data from the International Organization for Migration show that almost half of all identified child trafficking cases begin with the involvement of a family member.  According to the data, the extent of such involvement is up to four times higher than in cases of adult trafficking.

Pointing to signs of emerging common ground towards implementing the United Nations process for ending the conflict in Syria, the Secretary‑General’s Special Envoy for that country today called on the Security Council to support meaningful progress in the eighth round of talks, due to begin in Geneva on 28 November.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today convicted Ratko Mladiæ on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, giving him a life sentence.  Prosecutor Serge Brammertz said the judgment was a milestone in the Tribunal’s history and international criminal justice.

The United Nations stands ready to support repair of Syrian Arab Red Crescent warehouses hit by two mortar shells in Quneitra, in southern Syria, and replenish the destroyed aid.  Some 13.1 million people in Syria require assistance, according to the 2018 humanitarian needs assessment released today.