The international legal framework and tools are all there to protect civilians caught up in conflict, and now it’s time for governments and armed groups to apply them, the UN relief chief told the Security Council on Tuesday.
A summit involving leaders of Somalia’s political factions is underway in Mogadishu, a welcome relief after months of escalating tension, the senior UN official in the country told the Security Council on Tuesday, expressing hope that a consensus on electoral plans will be announced imminently.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has strongly condemned the arbitrary detention of an opposition journalist in Belarus, calling it an “astonishing episode” that heralds a new phase in the campaign of repression against journalists and civil society there.
Africa’s rich, diverse cultural and natural heritage, is important for sustainable development, poverty reduction, and “building and maintaining peace”, the UN chief said on Tuesday, marking the international day celebrating the continent.
“This year’s Africa Day highlights arts, culture and heritage as levers for building the Africa we want”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in his commemorative message.
Extracting minerals, metals and other valuable raw materials from the earth, represents a “crucial juncture” between resources, ecosystems and people, all of which have an essential role to play in advancing sustainability and equity, the UN chief said on Tuesday.
Attacks on water and sanitation facilities in conflict zones around the world are putting the lives of millions of children around the world in danger, and are a much greater threat than violence itself, warns the UN Children’s agency, UNICEF, in a report released on Tuesday.
The UN has called for dialogue in Samoa, where the first woman elected as Prime Minister was locked out of Parliament on Monday amid a bitter power struggle with the country’s long-standing leader.
The UN Secretary-General said on Monday he was “deeply concerned” over the apparent forced landing of a commercial passenger jet over Belarus, and the subsequent detention of a prominent dissident and journalist by authorities there.
Although the World Food Programme (WFP) is ramping up support to people in Yemen’s worst hunger hotspots, in efforts to prevent famine, sustaining response through the rest of the year is uncertain, the UN agency warned on Monday.
UN blue helmets face an increasing number of attacks throughout the complex environments in which they work, the head of the Organization’s peacekeeping operations told the Security Council on Monday.
