Revitalizing the United Nations to “strengthen a multilateral rule-based world order” tops a list of priorities the General Assembly President told UN Member States on Tuesday.
Acknowledging “a long road ahead” on the United Nations ambitious agenda, Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed on Tuesday “the historic leadership of the state of Palestine” as the new Chair of the Group of 77’s (G77).
“The difficult part” of reaching a lasting political settlement in Yemen “is still ahead of us” said the UN Special Envoy on Wednesday, urging the Security Council to support the “speedy implementation” of the fragile ceasefire agreed in and around the crucial port city of Hudaydah, at breakthrough talks in Sweden last month.
At UN News, 2018 kicked off with UNICEF’s “challenge” to all nations to make sure more newborns survive their first days of life by ensuring they are protected from treatable diseases as well as having access to proven, low-cost health solutions in their first months.
The United Nations General Assembly officially endorsed the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration on Wednesday, a non-binding agreement adopted in Marrakech on 10 December by 164 Member States, and described by UN chief António Guterres as a “roadmap to prevent suffering and chaos”.
After two weeks of crunch negotiations – with overtime – the almost 200 parties gathered in Katowice, Poland, for the United Nations COP24 two-week climate change conference, adopted on Saturday a “robust” set of implementing guidelines for the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, aimed at keeping global warming well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels.
Major organizations from the world of sport are joining an increasing number of private sector businesses in the race to beat global warming. At the United Nations’ COP24 conference in Poland on Wednesday, 17 major players representing sporting bodies, athletes and fans, added their names to the collective scoreboard, with the launch of the Sports Climate Action Framework.
United Nations-sponsored political consultations in Sweden, involving the warring parties in the Yemen war, have led to progress “on a number of issues,” said Martin Griffiths, Special Envoy for Yemen, at a press conference on Monday.
The current rise in hate speech, racial tensions and identity-based violence is alarming, the UN Special Adviser on preventing genocide said on Friday, highlighting his concern that ‘complacency is still strong’, when it comes to stopping the mass-killing or extinction of national, ethnic, racial or religious groups.
The Yemeni Government and the Houthi opposition have gathered at United Nations-sponsored political talks, close to the Swedish capital, Stockholm, aimed at ending nearly four years of brutal war in the country.
