Peace and Security

Abandoned buildings at the Barclay training center in downtown Monrovia, a notorious meeting point for drug dealers and users. Here, a suspect is identified and searched for drugs and weapons. (2008)
UNMIL Photo/Christopher Herwig

Crime and drugs in West and Central Africa: Security Council highlights 'new alarming trends’

19 December 2018
Africa

West and Central Africa faces “disruptive and destabilising” new trends regarding drug trafficking, drug use and other crimes, according to Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), who briefed the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

The Amity vessel in the Hudaydah port. The port of Hudaydah is Yemen's lifeline and the only way that food and fuel get into the country. 26 July 2018.
WFP/Fares Khoailed

UN-led Yemen ceasefire monitoring team gets ready to begin operations

19 December 2018
Middle East

A UN-led team tasked with overseeing  the ceasefire  which came into effect on Tuesday around a number of critical Yemeni ports, has begun planning operations with a conference call to discuss the general outlines of its work, including agreement of a code of conduct, the UN Spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Electoral Preparations in Democratic Republic of Congo: a reminder of the officer's role before, during and after the polls.
MONUSCO/Alain Likota

DR Congo elections: ‘historic opportunity’ for ‘peaceful transfer of power’ says Security Council

19 December 2018
Africa

As the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) prepare to vote in next week’s long-awaited presidential election, UN Security Council members on Tuesday expressed their conviction that the 23 December vote should be viewed as an “historic opportunity” for the country.

A UN peacekeeper patrols the 'Blue Line' in southern Lebanon.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Confirmed ‘Blue Line’ tunnels ‘do not appear’ to surface in Israel – UN peacekeeping chief

19 December 2018
Middle East

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has confirmed the existence of at least two tunnels crossing the “Blue Line” – the border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel – but they “do not appear thus far” to have exit points leading to the surface on Israeli territory, the United Nations top peacekeeping official told the Security Council on Wednesday.

An elderly woman in village Krymskoe, heavily affected by the armed conflict, receives financial assistance from IOM.
IOM/Konstantin Skomorokh

'Multiplicity’ of rights violations in Ukraine as fifth winter of conflict bites

19 December 2018

Rights violations have continued unabated and unaddressed in Ukraine and people are still dying amid ongoing conflict between Government forces and armed separatists in the east of the country, a top UN rights official said on Wednesday

Peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) conduct a firewood patrol for women from the Mission’s Protection of Civilians’ site (POC) in Bentiu on December 10, 2018.
UN Photo/Isaac Billy

‘Chance for peace’ in South Sudan finally within reach, declares UN Peacekeeping chief

18 December 2018
Africa

The security situation in South Sudan has significantly improved since the recently signed peace deal between the opposing parties in the country’s civil war, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, head of UN Peacekeeping (DPKO), told the Security Council on Tuesday.

Staffan de Mistura, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, briefs the press after the Joint Meeting on Syria, at the Palais des Nations, Geneva. 18 December 2018.
UN Photo/Violaine Martin

Worth going ‘extra mile’ for a new Syrian constitution, UN envoy urges

18 December 2018
Middle East

Efforts to establish a constitutional committee for Syria are worth going the “extra mile” for, UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday, after meeting the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey - guarantors of a fragile ceasefire in the wartorn country – who agreed that it should convene for the first time early next year, in Geneva.

Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefs the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East.
UN Photo/Mark Garten

‘We are nowhere closer’ to Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, than a year ago, Security Council hears

18 December 2018
Middle East

Recent violence and rising tensions in the West Bank are fuelling a climate of hatred and fear, “driving both Israelis and Palestinians further away” from a resolution to the conflict, the United Nations envoy for the Middle East Peace Process has said.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, briefs the Security Council, 17 December 2018.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Moves to create a Kosovo army have ‘deteriorated relations’ with Serbia: UN peacekeeping chief

17 December 2018
Europe

The decision by Kosovo’s parliament to form a national army was described by the UN Peacekeeping chief on Monday as having “further deteriorated relations between Belgrade and Pristina,” which, he said, have been strained for some time.

Tadamichi Yamamoto, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and the head of UN Assistance Mission in the country (UNAMA), briefs the Security Council.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Prospect of negotiated peace in Afghanistan ‘never been more real’ – UN mission chief

17 December 2018
Asia Pacific

A negotiated end to the 17-year conflict in Afghanistan “has never been more real…than it is now”, the head of the United Nations peace mission in the country has said, highlighting a series of important milestones achieved over recent months.