Since January, the region has seen a new escalation of violence as the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group launched an offensive in North and South Kivu provinces. While tensions persist in the DRC, both frontlines and negotiation positions are shifting, paving the way for peace, the Security Council heard this Friday. The path to lasting...
One week since the Israel-Iran conflict erupted, diplomatic efforts to end the war are ramping up in Geneva today as foreign ministers from France, Germany, the UK and the European Union prepare to meet their Iranian counterpart. In New York, meanwhile, the UN Security Council is also set to discuss...
Welcome to our live coverage After a weekend of massive strikes and counter-strikes between Tel Aviv and Tehran, the UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk on Monday condemned the violence and echoed wider calls for a negotiated end to the attacks. Meanwhile in Gaza, aid workers report that mobile communications...
According to the agency, heavily armed personnel entered the schools in Shu’fat refugee camp on Thursday while classes were in session, forcing more than 550 Palestinian girls and boys – some as young as six – out of their classrooms. One UNRWA staff member was detained, and all of the...
The grim revelation emerged during a high-level discussion at the UN in Geneva on the human rights situation in DRC. The Council – the UN’s foremost human rights forum – also heard updates on allegations of ongoing abuses in South Sudan and the Central African Republic. Surging violence Despite best...
Sigrid Kaag, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (ad interim) briefed the Security Council on the latest report relating to resolution 2334 (2016), which calls for an immediate halt to Israeli settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. She detailed continued violations, escalating military operations and rising...
Briefing ambassadors in the Security Council, Special Coordinator Sigrid Kaag emphasised that peace in the Middle East is possible. “We can achieve a future where a safe and secure Israel exists alongside a viable and independent Palestinian State. This requires continued, concerted effort, dedication and political courage by all parties,”...
Agency chief Philippe Lazzarini said that Israeli forces and personnel from the Jerusalem local authority “forcefully entered” the Kalandia Training Centre and ordered its immediate evacuation. “At least 350 students and 30 staff were present and impacted. Tear gas and sound bombs were fired,” Mr. Lazzarini explained. The development comes...
The analysis underscores the devastating impact of toxic air on young lives, with air pollution now linked to nearly one in four deaths of under fives in the region. Exposure begins in the womb, increasing risks of premature birth and low birth weight, and continues throughout childhood, impairing lung development,...
Following the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, the UN Security Council is meeting in New York to hear from the Secretary-General and foreign ministers from the Middle East and beyond. UN chief António Guterres told the meeting there must be “irreversible action” to realise the two-State...
António Guterres addressed the Council’s first quarterly debate on the Middle East for the year, held against the backdrop of Sunday’s temporary ceasefire in Gaza, the end of hostilities in Lebanon sparked by the war, and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. “We have a responsibility to help...
Following the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, the UN Security Council is meeting in New York to hear from the Secretary-General and foreign ministers from the Middle East and beyond. The UN Secretary-General told the meeting there must be “irreversible action” to realise the two-State solution....