Briefing ambassadors at the Security Council, Geir Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria, noted that though there have been some diplomatic breakthroughs none led to tangible changes on the ground for civilians. He also raised the alarm over the impact on the region of the devastating Israel-Palestine crisis. On top...
They are taking part in the 2023 UN Peacekeeping Ministerial, which opens in the capital, Accra, on Tuesday. The two-day meeting aims to secure vital political support and concrete commitments to strengthen UN Peacekeeping efforts to meet current and future challenges and needs, in line with ongoing reform under the...
Speaking in Geneva, the High Commissioner for Human Rights urged the parties to the conflict to “create the political space for a path out of this horror”. Mr. Türk condemned the widespread targeting of civilians in the past five weeks of hostilities and urged accountability for gross rights violations. He...
That’s the message from UNAIDS, the UN agency dedicated to ending the epidemic, which said on Thursday that truly eradicating it boils down to a “political and financial choice”. The agency’s Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, said that today’s leaders have the opportunity to save millions of lives and be “remembered...
He said citizens of the Caribbean nation are “trapped in a living nightmare” as armed gangs encircle the capital, Port-au-Prince, blocking roads, controlling access to food and healthcare, and undermining humanitarian support. Mr. Guterres was speaking at UN Headquarters fresh from a visit to the country and a summit of...
“The war in Ukraine has created a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe, traumatized a generation of children, and accelerated the global food and energy crises,” said Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. “We cannot discount further dangerous knock-on effects,” she cautioned, citing urgent concerns, from rising death tolls to nuclear...
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called the Public Order Bill “deeply troubling legislation”, after it completed its passage through parliament on Wednesday. “It is especially worrying that the law expands the powers of the police to stop and search individuals, including without suspicion; defines some of the...
“Nearly 900 conflict-related detainees are being released by the parties in Yemen starting today, Friday, and over the course of three days,” the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen said in a statement. “This release operation comes at a time of hope for Yemen as a...
The report, covering the period between May 2020 and December 2022, draws on interviews with 207 victims and witnesses and an analysis of more than 2,500 items of evidence, including photographs, videos, medical, and court records. ‘Unacceptable picture of impunity’ “Our report paints an unacceptable picture of impunity and the...
“Our immediate priority must be to prevent further escalation, reduce tensions, and restore calm,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at a meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. Against a backdrop of deadly accelerating surges of violence, “sky high” tensions, and a...
The world is facing the largest food crisis in modern history and famine is looming, while human rights – especially women’s rights – are under attack and tensions are high in places where injustice is rife, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said in remarks to the Riyadh Humanitarian Forum...
“What is urgently needed is the political will to break the protracted political stalemate and achieve progress on multiple fronts,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at the latest meeting of the High-level Committee on Libya, taking place in Addis Ababa. Progress is sorely needed towards holding elections and advancing gains...