Peace and Security

© UNICEF

'Significant progress' made towards lasting ceasefire in Yemen, UN Special Envoy tells Security Council

14 May 2020
Middle East

UN Special Envoy for war-weary Yemen, Martin Griffiths, told the Security Council on Thursday, that he had been in intensive negotiations with the warring parties in Yemen over a lasting peace deal, with "significant progress" made, especially towards making the UN's call for a complete silencing of the guns, a reality.

© UNICEF/Sukhum Preechapanic

UN leads call to protect most vulnerable from mental health crisis during and after COVID-19

14 May 2020
Global

Decades of neglect and underinvestment in addressing people’s mental health needs have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN said on Thursday, in a call for ambitious commitments from countries in the way they treat psychological illness, amid a potential global spike in suicides and drug abuse.

UNMISS/Nektarios Markogiannis

South Sudan: Coronavirus cases confirmed inside UN civilian protection site

13 May 2020

The South Sudanese Government has confirmed that two cases of COVID-19 have been identified inside a Protection of Civilians (PoC) site in the capital, Juba, although the world’s youngest nation has been relatively unscathed by the pandemic, with 74 cases recorded so far.

UNAMA/Freshta Dunia

Afghanistan: UN shocked and outraged over deadly attacks on maternity hospital and funeral

12 May 2020
Asia Pacific

Perpetrators behind two separate deadly attacks in Afghanistan on Tuesday must be brought to justice, top UN officials have said.

UNDP Iraq/Abdullah Dhiaa Al-deen

Political will ‘fundamental’ to realizing a more just and prosperous Iraq: UN envoy

12 May 2020
Middle East

Despite compounding crises that include the COVID-19 pandemic and plummeting oil revenues, a more prosperous and inclusive Iraq can be achieved provided the political will is there, the top UN official in the country told the Security Council during a virtual meeting held on Tuesday.

UN Photo/Sylvain Liechti

UN peacekeepers killed in improvised explosive attack in Mali

11 May 2020
Africa

Three UN peacekeepers from Chad were killed in northern Mali on Sunday when their convoy hit a roadside bomb near Aguelhok, in the restive Kidal region. The improvised device also seriously injured four others who are now receiving medical care, the UN Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) said in a statement. 

UN Libya

UN condemns deadly shelling on civilian areas of Libyan capital

9 May 2020
Middle East

The UN Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has condemned several recent attacks on civilian areas of the Libyan Capital, Tripoli, which have reportedly caused deaths and injuries.

TASS News Agency/Nikolai Sitnikov

75 years on from the Nazi defeat, many still suffer impact of conflict: Guterres

8 May 2020
Global

On 8 and 9 May, the UN commemorates the millions who lost their lives during the Second World War, the tragic conflict that led to the birth of the United Nations. In a video message released late on Friday, UN chief António Guterres warned that divisions still exist, and called for a world based on peace and unity.

World Bank/Dominic Chavez

‘Humanitarian catastrophe’ looms in Haiti, threatening years of progress as COVID-19 takes hold, ECOSOC group says

8 May 2020
Americas

The COVID-19 outbreak could trigger a humanitarian catastrophe in Haiti, endangering many years of hard-won progress in the Caribbean nation, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) said on Friday.

UNDP Syria

Syria violence ‘a ticking time-bomb that must not be ignored’: UN human rights chief

8 May 2020
Middle East

As civilian casualties mount across Syria and human rights violations continue unabated, the UN rights chief expressed serious concern on Friday that some parties to the conflict, including ISIL terrorist fighters, may be using the COVID-19 pandemic as “an opportunity to regroup and inflict violence on the population”.