Despite ISIL’s territorial defeat in Syria, the terrorist group, also known as Da’esh “continues to aspire to global relevance”, the United Nations top counter-terrorism officials told the Security Council on Tuesday.
Tangible steps “can, and must, be taken” to urgently reverse the “negative trajectory” of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and revive the peace process, a senior United Nations envoy told the Security Council on Tuesday.
Changing patterns and worsening impacts of natural disasters in Asia and the Pacific, coupled with environmental degradation and climate change, are not only making efforts to predict such catastrophes more difficult, but are also a “sign of things to come”, the United Nations development arm in the region has warned.
The scars of terrorism “run deep”, and while they may fade with time, “they never disappear”, the United Nations chief said on Wednesday, in his message for the second International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism.
Despite “encouraging” developments, insecurity across Somalia remains a serious concern, James Swan, head of the UN Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), warned the Security Council, in his first briefing to the world body since taking office.
While the world’s oceans contain some 200,000 identified living species, the actual numbers could reach the millions – all exposed to the dangers of climate change, pollution and over-exploitation. To stem these threats, the United Nations is meeting to negotiate a treaty that would protect three-quarters of the earth’s surface by 2030.
“If I ever come face-to-face with a Boko Haram fighter and if I have strength and a knife in my hand, I will cut his throat and spill his blood! Because, it makes me sick whenever I remember the suffering I went through.”
The work of women humanitarians makes a “huge difference” to the lives of millions of women, men and children in urgent need, the United Nations chief said in his message for World Humanitarian Day.
In commemorating the 70th anniversary of the landmark Geneva Conventions, the president of the United Nations Security Council hailed the “significant body of law”, describing it as playing “a vital role in limiting brutality of armed conflicts”.
Voicing great concern over a sharp increase in the killing and maiming of children in Mali due to ongoing fighting and instability, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners on Tuesday, called on all warring parties to stop attacks and “keep them out of harm’s way”.
