“The truce can only be a stepping stone,” said Hans Grundberg, the UN’s Special Envoy for Yemen. Reiterating that short-term solutions and piecemeal approaches can only bring partial relief, he outlined a range of fresh diplomatic efforts currently underway to bring the conflict to a sustainable end. Truce holding, despite lapse The nearly decade-long conflict in Yemen – and the…
Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva, UN Special Representative and head of the UN’s Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, strongly condemned recent Taliban decrees that have further eroded the rights of Afghan women. However, she also urged the international community to preserve “whatever political space exists” for frank discussions with Afghanistan’s leaders, warning of rapidly deteriorating humanitarian and…
“It is hard to imagine peace while State actors continue to be involved in gross human rights violations,” said Commission member Barney Afako, presenting the latest report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. “A true demonstration of the Government’s stated commitments to peace and human rights would involve dismissing the responsible officials and initiating…
“Hope is rare now in Myanmar,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Volker Türk said, calling for robust support for its citizens under fire. “The disregard and contempt for human life and human rights that are continuously demonstrated by the military, constitute an outrage to the conscience of humanity,” he said. The latest…
Speaking only days since a large majority of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, the UN chief stressed that Russia’s decision to go to war against its neighbour on 24 February 2022 had unleashed “widespread death, destruction and displacement”. Also present at the opening…
“Life is a living hell for the people of Ukraine,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Council, which has held more than 40 debates on the conflict since Russia’s full-scale invasion one year ago. On the occasion, the 15-member organ held a ministerial-level meeting on the heels of the UN General Assembly’s new demand that…
“We are not here to set up a trial in the Security Council”, Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said during discussions. He said Moscow was presenting a request for an independent investigation in light of doubts about the integrity and transparency of Denmark, Germany and Sweden in their ongoing inquiries. Instead, he said, the UN Secretary-General…
Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari, who briefed the Council on Monday afternoon, reiterated the UN Secretary-General’s strong condemnation of the launch and his appeal for action to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula. “The Secretary-General deeply regrets the divisions that have prevented the international community from acting on the DPRK, as well as on other threats…
“Peace is not just about signing an agreement,” said Miroslav Jenča, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas, who briefed members during a meeting requested by the Russian Federation – as the one-year mark nears, since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Mr. Jenča stressed that turning words on paper into action…
“The impact of rising seas is already creating new sources of instability and conflict,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who opened the meeting. Noting that some nations’ coastlines have already seen triple the average rate of sea level rise, he warned that, in the coming decades, low-lying communities – and entire countries – could disappear forever. “We would witness…
