Peace and Security

President Mahmoud Abbas (on screens) of the State of Palestine addresses the general debate of the UN General Assembly’s 76th session.
UN Photo/Cia Pak

With region ‘at a crossroads’, Palestinian President calls on UN’s Guterres to convene international peace conference 

24 September 2021

The President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas on Friday called on the UN Secretary-General to convene an international peace conference and said that to ensure that this initiative is not open-ended, Israel must withdraw from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem within one year. 

President Nicos Anastasiades of the Republic of Cyprus addresses the general debate of the UN General Assembly’s 76th session.
UN Photo/Cia Pak

Cyprus President determined to get negotiation with Turkey process back on track

24 September 2021
Europe

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades told UN Member States on Friday that he is determined “to set the negotiation process” with Turkey “back on track”, on the basis of the UN framework and the agreement reached in 2019.

UN officials say that gender-based violence is a “shadow pandemic,” hidden beneath COVID-19.
UNDP

Call to action: Prevent gender-based violence in humanitarian emergencies

23 September 2021
Global

Top UN officials met in the margins of the 76th General Assembly on Thursday,  with a strong call to action to stamp out gender-based violence (GBV), amid a rise in forced displacement and other humanitarian emergencies around the globe.

An atmospheric nuclear test conducted by the United States at Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands, on 1 November 1952.
US Government

UN chief appeals for countries to sign nuclear test-ban treaty

23 September 2021
Global

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday again urged eight key countries which have not yet signed or ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), to do so without delay.

A man carries water close to Bujumbura in Burundi.
© UNICEF/Karel Prinsloo

Torture, killings, lawlessness, still blight Burundi’s rights record

16 September 2021
Africa

The people of Burundi continue to endure serious human rights violations including possible crimes against humanity, the majority committed by those with links to the ruling party, UN-appointed independent investigators said on Thursday.

Ola al-Aghbary is the founder of the Sheba Youth Foundation for Development which focuses on youth and women empowerment in Yemen.
Hana Haza’a

FROM THE FIELD: Women owning the peace

16 September 2021
Global

The contribution of women activists towards building peace across the world is being highlighted in a UN exhibition of images taken by women photographers which is opening online and in New York.

MINUSCA peacekeepers on guard in the city of Bangassou, Central African Republic, January 15, 2021.
MINUSCA/Leonel Grothe

UN sends Gabon peacekeepers home from Central African Republic, following abuse allegations

15 September 2021

The United Nations announced on Wednesday that all Gabonese military units deployed to the peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic, MINUSCA, are to be sent home immediately, following credible reports alleging that unidentified ‘blue helmets’ had abused five girls.

UNMISS established a base in Yei at the request of the town's inhabitants, to guard against ongoing violence.
UN Photo/Eric Kanalstein

New South Sudan Parliament can ‘infuse urgency’ into peace process

15 September 2021
Africa

South Sudan has made history with the appointment of two women to senior leadership positions within its Transitional National Legislature, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council on Wednesday, as he encouraged parties to build on these gains in efforts to overcome significant political and security headwinds.

A forest in Croatia contaminated with cluster munitions is cleared.
Civil Protection Directorate, Croatia

Civilian casualties rise, despite progress in eliminating cluster bombs 

15 September 2021
Casualties caused by lethal cluster munitions continued to increase in 2020, despite progress in efforts to eliminate these weapons, a UN-backed civil society report said on Wednesday. 
A young girl and a woman walk past destroyed buildings in the city of Maarat al-Numaan in Idlib, Syria.
© UNICEF/Giovanni Diffidenti

After 10 years of war in Syria, siege tactics still threaten civilians

14 September 2021
Middle East

The future for Syria’s people is “increasingly bleak”, UN-appointed rights experts said on Tuesday, highlighting escalating conflict in several areas of the war-ravaged country, a return to siege tactics and popular demonstrations linked to the plummeting economy.