Peace and Security

OCHA/Charlotte Cans

Yemen prisoner release boosts hopes of peace at last for war-weary civilians

30 September 2019
Middle East

Hopes for a possible end to the war in Yemen grew slightly on Monday, following the news that nearly 300 detainees have been released as a gesture of goodwill by Houthi forces, pitted against the Government of Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

UNAMA/Fardin Waezi

Guterres welcomes conduct of Afghan elections, commends ‘all who braved security concerns’

29 September 2019
Asia Pacific

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the conduct of presidential elections in Afghanistan on 28 September and commended all Afghans “who exercised their democratic voice and upheld their right to vote, braving security concerns”.

UN Photo/Cia Pak

At UN, Yemen Foreign Minister demands end to ‘Iranian-Houthi coup d’etat’

28 September 2019
Middle East

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Yemen on Saturday called on the United Nations and the wider international community to stand by his crisis-torn country as it struggled to cope with daily assaults and “terrorist aggression” at the hands of vicious, Iran-backed Houthi militias.

UN Photo/Kim Haughton

Guinea-Bissau spotlights threats of organized crime, Sahel terrorism in speech to UN Assembly

28 September 2019
Africa

Organized criminal networks continue to pose a threat to Guinea-Bissau and undermine stability in the West African nation, Foreign Minister Suzi Barbosa said in her speech on Saturday to the UN General Assembly.

UN Photo/Cia Pak

Venezuela Vice-President speaks out against ‘coup d’etat’, $130 bn lost to ‘economic terrorism’

27 September 2019
Americas

The Vice-President of Venezuela on Friday criticized administrations which have recognized National Assembly president Juan Guaidó as leader of the South American country.

UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Unable to accept its decline, West subverts international law to suit its needs, Russia’s Lavrov tells UN

27 September 2019
Global

While crediting the United Nations for preventing ‘World War III’, the Foreign Minister of Russia lamented to the General Assembly on Friday that the number of conflicts on the planet has not declined, nor has enmity weakened.

MINUSCA /Hervé Serefio

Central African Republic: Three UN peacekeepers killed following helicopter crash

27 September 2019

Three peacekeepers were killed and a fourth was severely injured after a helicopter crashed on Friday morning local time, in the west of the Central African Republic, the UN mission to the country (MINUSCA) has confirmed. 

UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Treat climate crisis with ‘greatest urgency’, Bahamas leader tells UN Assembly

27 September 2019
Americas

Hurricane Dorian, one of the most destructive Atlantic storms ever recorded, “is a generational tragedy” for The Bahamas, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said on Friday.

UNAMID/Elsadig Daud

Sudan at the start of ‘long road to recovery’, UN chief tells high-level meeting

27 September 2019
Africa

Sudan is now on the long road to socio-economic recovery, following the establishment of a civilian-led government, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told a high-level meeting on Friday, at UN Headquarters in New York.

Fardin Waezi/UNAMA

‘No place for violence, intimidation or fraud’ in Afghan elections: UN chief

27 September 2019
Global

All key actors in Afghanistan must “uphold their responsibility to support a peaceful, credible, transparent and inclusive electoral process”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement on Friday, the day before presidential elections are due to be held in the country, adding that “there is no place for violence, intimidation or fraud”.