Syria

Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that Belize, Jamaica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.

In Madagascar, following the passage of Tropical Cyclone Gamane in late March, the United Nations continues to support the Government-led response. Focusing on the health response due to the risk of epidemics, humanitarian organizations have provided medicine, mosquito nets and water purification products.

Following the official installation of the Transitional Presidential Council in Port-au-Prince today, the Secretary-General reiterated his call for the swift deployment of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti to assist the Haitian National Police in addressing the dire security situation in the country.

Piecemeal measures to tackle Syria’s interlocking political, economic and humanitarian challenges cannot bring stability to the country and the region, the United Nations mediator for Syria told the Security Council today, calling for a new, comprehensive approach that addresses the full range of issues with the warring parties.

More than seven years after it created a mechanism to analyse evidence of human rights abuses in Syria, the General Assembly today considered the work of this body and heard from its Head that additional funding is needed in order to continue assisting national investigations of these crimes, before adopting several draft texts recommended by the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

In Haiti, the United Nations and its partners continue to provide emergency assistance to people impacted by the crisis in Port-au-Prince. Yesterday, the World Food Programme (WFP) supplied more than 30,000 hot meals to displaced people in the capital.

In Cameroon, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned today that vital food assistance to refugees in the country’s far north, Adamawa, and east and north regions is at risk of grinding to a halt due to funding shortfalls.

In the Gambia, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today raised concerns on the proposed repeal of the ban on female genital mutilation in the country, highlighting the proposal as a grave violation of human rights and significant setback in the global fight against gender-based violence.

As the conflict in Syria entered its fourteenth year, the “tragic reality” was that developments are going in the wrong direction across all fronts, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the country warned the Security Council today, as members echoed his urgent calls on Damascus and other actors to unblock the persisting political impasse.