The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreed in 2015 lays out the rules for monitoring Iran’s domestic nuclear programme and paved the way for US sanctions to be lifted. It was agreed by Iran, the five permanent members of the Council (China, France, Russia the United Kingdom and the United States) plus Germany together…
The discussions at the international anti-corruption conference, convened in Atlanta by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), held between 11 and 15 December, built on the ground-breaking Global Report on Corruption in Sport, produced by the UNODC in 2021, which pointed to a dramatic increase in illegal betting, fuelled by the billions of dollars flowing through…
Briefing ambassadors at the Security Council, Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, said that like the previous year, the year 2023 has been devastating for the people of Ukraine. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) has verified 10,065 civilians killed and a further 18,679 injured since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022….
Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, was briefing a meeting of the Security Council, which also coincided with the 32nd anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. “I would like to congratulate the Ukrainian people today and take this occasion to stress, once again, that the UN’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity…
Delivering a briefing on the latest situation there, the Director of Operations and Advocacy for humanitarian affairs coordination office, OCHA, made clear that the UN was unable to independently verify information on the movement of people and goods along the corridor “or on the well-being of civilians in the areas where Russian peacekeepers have been…
The Council meeting was convened following the missile strikes on Sunday which damaged the centuries-old Transfiguration Cathedral, the first and foremost Orthodox church in the historic city. Other landmarks in the city centre, a protected World Heritage Site, were also damaged in the attack, which killed one person and injured several others. Culture under fire…
Cities and towns have become the drivers of economic growth and now account for more than 80 per cent of global GDP. Yet, in 2020, over one billion inhabitants of urban areas were still living in slums or informal settlements, predominantly in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. As urban populations grow, slums expand even faster, UN…
Khaled Khiari was briefing the Council just a day after DPRK conducted the second launch of its Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a system which he said can now “reach most points on Earth.” It represented “potentially” Pyongyang’s longest ever ballistic missile flight, lasting around 74 minutes and travelling over 1,000 kilometres before crashing into…
Briefing the Security Council on the state of the JCPOA, Ms. DiCarlo set the tone for the discussion by stating, “diplomacy is the only way to effectively address the Iranian nuclear issue.” The 2015 deal sets out rules for monitoring Iran’s nuclear programme and paves the way for the lifting of UN sanctions. It was agreed…
“So far, the ceasefire between the M23 and the FARDC has held up relatively well and has contributed to some security gains”, said UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Martha Pobee. “The relative calm in Rutshuru territory, for example, allowed more than 45,000 people from the Bishusha group to return home”, she said. She noted, however, that…
