Peace and Security

An 11-year-old boy finds relief from the summer heat by playing in a fountain in a historic part of the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. (file)
UNICEF/Pirozzi

Friday’s Daily Brief: More climate action says Guterres, migrant children dangers, Ebola fight, record-setting weather

28 June 2019

This Friday, we cover: UN chief appeals for stronger climate action commitment; report on migrant children deaths and disappearances; Ebola fight in DR Congo as violence goes on; and global over-heating. 

Displaced persons collect relief supplies in Ituri province, north-east DRC. Interethnic violence has ravaged the Ituri Province since December 2017.
UNICEF/Madjiangar

Ebola fight ongoing amid evidence of ‘several massacres’ in DR Congo’s Ituri province

28 June 2019

The vital work of tracing people infected with deadly Ebola virus disease in north-east Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is progressing, despite evidence of “several” massacres in the affected area earlier this month, the UN said on Friday.

Kafr Nubl surgical hospital is seen after it was put out of service by attacks in early May 2019. The building and an ambulance lie in ruins. (3 May 2019)
© UNICEF/Khalil Ashawi

Syria’s Idlib ‘on the brink’ of a nightmare, humanitarian chiefs warn, launching global solidarity campaign

27 June 2019
Middle East

The heads of 11 global humanitarian organizations warned on Thursday that the embattled rebel-held province of Idlib in Syria, stands on the brink of disaster, with three million civilian lives at risk, including one million children.

Journalists at an event in Kabul to mark Afghan National Journalists Day in March 2019, in support of media freedom and solidarity with journalists in the country (file photo)..
UNAMA/Fardin Waezi

‘Words must never be met with violence’ urges UN, following Taliban threat to journalists  

27 June 2019

Following last week’s public threats by Taliban militants to deliberately target media outlets in Afghanistan, the United Nations mission chief in the country reiterated his call on Thursday for journalists’ rights to be protected, underlining the power of press freedom to advance peace, justice and human rights. 

Senior UN officials holding copies of the UN Charter at UN HQ in New York
UN Photo/Amanda Voisard

‘Summon the spirit of San Francisco’, says General Assembly President on UN Charter anniversary

26 June 2019
Global

Reaffirming faith in human rights, promoting social justice and saving the world from the “scourge of war”: just some of the founding principles of the United Nations, which appear in the Organization’s bedrock Charter, signed exactly 74 years ago in San Francisco.

Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, briefs the Security Council meeting on non-proliferation. (26 June 2019)
UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Peace in the Gulf ‘at a critical juncture’ says DiCarlo, urging continuation of Iran nuclear deal

26 June 2019

The Iran nuclear deal must “continue to work for all”, despite moves by both the United States and Iran which have destabilized the “hard-won” 2015 agreement, the UN Political Affairs chief told Security Council members on Wednesday. 

A government soldier leaves a school in Kodok, South Sudan, which had been used to accommodate the South Sudan People Defense Forces. (May 2019)
UNMISS/Isaac Billy

Peace dividend palpable in South Sudan, but ‘grassroots’ are moving faster than elites, says Shearer

25 June 2019

The peace dividend from last year’s ceasefire in South Sudan is palpable, but political elites need to follow the example set by local communities on the ground if lasting progress is to be achieved, said the top UN official in the country on Tuesday.

UN vehicle on mission to Rukban, Syria.
OCHA/Fadwa Baroud

Syria: Ease suffering, save lives, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator tells Security Council

25 June 2019
Middle East

“Week after week, month after month, year after year”, the Security Council has been briefed on Syria’s humanitarian suffering, and on Tuesday, the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator once again described “the latest horror facing civilians”, pleading for greater humanitarian access.

Miragoane, 30 October 2018: female members of the Bangladeshi Formed Police Units greet Helen La Lime, the UN Special Representative in Haiti and Head of MINUJUSTH
Leonora Baumann / UN MINUJUSTH

Security Council approves ‘historic’ political Haiti mission, ending UN peacekeeping role in the country

25 June 2019
Americas

The Security Council on Monday approved a resolution to create a UN “Integrated Office” in Haiti, designed to support the country’s government in strengthening political stability and good governance. The Office, named BINUH, will replace the peacekeeping mission in Haiti on October 16, putting an end to 15 years of peacekeeping presence in the country.

 

Majid Takht Ravanchi, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN, briefs journalists during Security Council consultations on the situation in the Middle East, specifically concerning Iran. (24 June 2019)
UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Security Council urges ‘maximum restraint’ around Gulf region as Iran and United States trade diplomatic blows in New York

24 June 2019

There is a need for “genuine regional dialogue” to address rising tensions in the Gulf, Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations said on Monday, calling on Secretary-General António Guterres “to play a role” in bringing countries to the table.