Peace and Security

Secretary-General António Guterres.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

UN chief calls for probe into deadly clashes along Israel-Gaza border

30 March 2018
Middle East

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called for an independent and transparent investigation into clashes at the Gaza fence on Friday between Palestinians participating in the ‘Great Return March’ and Israeli security forces which resulted in at least 15 deaths and a large number of injured.

UN peacekeepers from Nigeria on an evening patrol in the streets of Liberia's capital, Monrovia. The UN Mission there, known as UNMIL, officially closes its doors at the end of March 2018.
UN Photo/Albert González Farran

Guterres welcomes successful wrap up of long-running UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia

30 March 2018

Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the successful conclusion of the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), which officially closed its doors on Friday, and congratulated the West African country’s people and Government for turning the page on crisis and conflict.

Jeffrey Feltman, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, briefs press at Headquarters.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Member States’ support essential for an effective UN, says outgoing political chief

29 March 2018
Global

After nearly six years as the United Nations political chief, Jeffrey Feltman on Thursday spoke to the press for the last time as the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, spotlighting the importance of multilateralism and the support of UN Member countries for the Organization’s vital work.

A peacekeeper from Ghana stands guard during a senior UN official’s visit to Cestos City in 2012. Some 16,000 peacekeepers from over a dozen countries served in Liberia from 2003 to 2018.
UN Photo/Staton Winter

Their 15-year mission a success, UN peacekeepers depart a stable and grateful Liberia

29 March 2018
Africa

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Liberia will formally cease operations on Friday after aiding the West African nation’s transition from ravaging civil war to a hopeful era of peace.

Wide shot of the Security Council in session.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Yemen: UN Security Council condemns Houthi missile attacks targeting Saudi cities

29 March 2018
Middle East

Reiterating the need for warring parties in Yemen to resume dialogue, the Security Council has condemned the latest missile attacks by the Houthi rebels targeting several cities of Saudi Arabia, including its capital, Riyadh.

MINUSMA peacekeepers patrolling the village of Bara in northeastern Mali. It is one of the most dangerous UN peacekeeping missions.
UN Photo/Harandane Dicko

Unrealistic demands on UN peacekeeping costing lives and credibility – Guterres

28 March 2018
Global

As the United Nations continues to send peacekeepers to difficult or war-torn environments like Mali and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, those ‘blue helmets’ will need more and better coordinated support among the actors who authorize and deploy them, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday.

The United Nations-managed Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF) supports, amomg others, women livelihoods projects like this one, in Mafa, Borno state.
UN OCHA/Alexander Davies

UN allocates $9 million to help thousands of people displaced in north-east Nigeria

27 March 2018
Africa

Some 60,000 people displaced by ongoing hostilities in Nigeria’s crisis-torn Borno state will receive life-saving aid thanks to an allocation from the United Nations-managed country-based humanitarian assistance fund.

UN peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) BMP armored vehicle on patrol.
MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti

Security Council renews UN mission in DR Congo

27 March 2018
Africa

The Security Council on Tuesday extended for one year the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), making it a priority for the operation to protect civilians and provide support for implementation of a 31 December 2016 agreement on holding elections.

A student stands in the ruins of one of his former classrooms, which was destroyed in June 2015, at the Aal Okab school in Saada, Yemen. Students now attend lessons in UNICEF tents nearby.
UNICEF/Clarke for UNOCHA

Children's education latest victim of Yemen conflict – UNICEF

27 March 2018
Middle East

Yemen’s education system has been devastated by the country’s brutal conflict, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday, reporting that at least half a million children have dropped out of school since the 2015 escalation of the war.

Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (screen) addresses the Security Ciuncil via videoconference on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.
UN Photo/Manuel Elías

At Security Council, UN Middle East peace envoy reports on Israel’s troubling settlement expansion

26 March 2018
Middle East

Reporting that over the past three months, Israel has advanced 22 plans for some 1,200 housing units for one area of the West Bank, a United Nations envoy warned Monday that such ongoing settlement expansion is eroding the prospect of a two-state solution to the long-standing Middle East conflict.