Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of the United Nations world court said on Friday that its judiciary work in The Hague, Netherlands, continued unabated.
Women continue to be under-represented in key decision-making over the battle against COVID-19, the chief of the UN gender empowerment agency said on Thursday, addressing the Security Council, adding that the situation is even “worse for women in conflict areas”.
In what leading campaigners are describing as “a new chapter for nuclear disarmament”, the ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will now come into force on 22 January, after Honduras became the 50th Member State to ratify on Saturday.
The UN’s 75th anniversary this Saturday, which falls as countries continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, is an opportunity to accelerate action to achieve a global ceasefire during the crisis, Secretary-General António Guterres has said.
When Member States signed the United Nations Charter 75 years ago, it was to prevent more existential conflicts and save succeeding generations from a third world war. Conflict prevention is part of the Organization’s DNA and remains a central priority today, a guiding principle behind the UN Secretary-General’s current call for a global ceasefire during the coronavirus pandemic.
Warring parties in Libya on Friday agreed an historic ceasefire, which was hailed by the head of the UN Support Mission in the country (UNSMIL), who led the mediation, as a courageous act that can help secure a “a better, safer, and more peaceful future for all the Libyan people”.
With the COVID-19 pandemic sparking a “communications emergency” caused by false information disseminated on social media, the UN Secretary-General is encouraging people everywhere to take a breath before sharing content online.
Given the complex and multifaceted challenges in the Persian Gulf region, the UN chief told the Security Council on Tuesday that it is important to reflect more deeply on how everyone, particularly the Council itself, can “work in unison to promote peace and security”.
Current, reliable and trusted data help us to “understand the changing world” in which we live, the UN chief said on Tuesday in his message for World Statistics Day.
The world must act now to reverse the situation in Africa’s central Sahel region, where humanitarian needs are at “a breaking point”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told a high-level conference on Tuesday to address the burgeoning crisis.
