Peace and Security

ISIL crimes against Yazidis constitute genocide, UN investigation team finds

A UN team investigating ISIL atrocities in Iraq has established “clear and convincing evidence” of genocide against the Yazidi religious minority, the Security Council heard on Monday. 

UN chief and senior officials express deep concern over East Jerusalem violence

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, and senior UN officials have expressed their deep concern over confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in East Jerusalem, particularly those which began on Friday evening, and continued into Sunday night. Several Palestinian children are among the wounded.

Kabul school bombing condemned by senior UN officials

Saturday’s deadly bombing outside a high school in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, has been condemned by leading UN officials including the Secretary-General António Guterres. The attack led to the deaths of at least 60 people, including several schoolchildren.

The United Nations remembers the dead of WWII

The Second World War had a profound impact on the international community, and established the conditions for the creation of the United Nations. This weekend marks the official remembrance of the tens of millions of civilians and soldiers who died during the conflict.

‘No time to lose’, stop flow of deadly weapons to Myanmar military now, urges UN rights expert

The United Nations independent human rights expert on Myanmar on Friday called on countries that have not yet done so, to impose arms embargo on the country urgently, to stop the “massacre” of citizens across the country.

Former LRA leader, ex-child soldier, sentenced to 25 years in prison

A former leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda, who himself had been abducted by the rebel group as a child, was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday. 

Nearly 8 years on, ‘gaps, inconsistencies, discrepancies’ remain over Syria chemical weapons declaration

The Security Council heard new evidence in longstanding international efforts to eradicate Syria’s chemical weapons programme on Thursday, including the results of an investigation into the possible of use of chlorine gas in the city of Saraqib in 2018, as the UN’s top disarmament official provided her regular briefing to ambassadors.

UN chief pledges to keep ‘memories alive’ of those who died in service during 2020

The United Nations paused on Thursday to honour 336 personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2020: the highest number ever in a single year. 

Myanmar: Attacks on healthcare jeopardizing COVID-19 response, UN team says

There have been at least 158 reported attacks on medical personnel and facilities in Myanmar, with more than 139 doctors arrested and charged since the military coup in February, endangering not only vital health services but also the COVID-19 response, the UN Country Team (UNCT) there said on Wednesday.

UN chief welcomes return to electoral agreement in Somalia

The United Nations Secretary-General on Saturday welcomed the decision by the Lower House of Somalia’s Federal Parliament to nullify a special law and to return to the 17 September Electoral Agreement that will allow for indirect presidential and parliamentary elections.