“The world is forgetting about the people of Sudan” the UN chief warned on Monday, calling for a boost in humanitarian funding and a global push for peace to end a year of brutal fighting between rival militaries.
As tensions worsen across the Middle East region, Yemen’s plight has become increasingly intertwined with wider geopolitical dynamics, the UN Special Envoy for the country said on Monday.
A recent spate of “reckless attacks” on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine must end immediately, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told the UN Security Council on Monday.
A full year of conflict in Sudan has already caused immense suffering and death but the situation could easily worsen with the news that the warring parties are arming civilians, UN rights chief Volker Türk said on Monday.
As UN chief António Guterres on Monday reiterated his appeal for “maximum restraint” in the Middle East following Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israel, independent human rights experts said that the alleged use of artificial intelligence on targets in Gaza by the Israeli military had taken an “unprecedented toll” on civilians, housing and services.
The people of the Middle East are facing a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict, António Guterres said on Sunday, urging “maximum restraint” across a region “on the brink”, hours after Iran launched attack drones and missiles against Israel overnight Saturday.
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Strongly condemning the “large-scale attack” launched on Israel by Iran, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged maximum restraint by all parties and warned that “neither the region nor the world can afford another war.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the establishment of a transitional council in Haiti tasked with choosing new political leadership and setting up elections in the crisis-torn Carribean country.
The situation for Gazans remains dire despite hopes stemming from recent commitments by Israel to boost assistance, the UN’s top aid official in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said on Friday.
UN humanitarians in Sudan issued a fresh alert on Friday about pervasive food insecurity and looming famine.
The UN renewed its commitment to never forget the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda during a candle lighting ceremony on Friday to mark 30 years since the horrific events there unfolded.
Madam President,
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched in blatant violation of the UN Charter and international law, continues to inflict a heavy toll on the people of Ukraine.
Since our last briefing to this Council almost a month ago, Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and towns have become a daily destructive pattern. This includes intense and systematic targeting of Ukrainian energy infrastructure across the country.
We are appalled by the increase in civilian casualties as a result of these relentless attacks.
According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 126 civilians were killed and 478 injured in March.
This is a 20 per cent increase compared with the previous month.
It is particularly disturbing that at least 57 children were killed or injured in March alone, doubling the number from February.
The deadly trend has continued this month with daily drone, missile, rocket and artillery attacks reported across the country.
Overnight and this morning we saw additional countrywide attacks targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, with some reportedly resulting in casualties, including fatalities.
On Monday, five people were reportedly killed in attacks in Zaporizhzhia, Sumy and Poltava regions of Ukraine. Several more, including children, were reportedly injured.
Kharkiv, Odesa, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine also continue to suffer persistent attacks.
Since February 2022, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has recorded 10,810 civilians killed, including 600 children, and 20,556 civilians injured, among which 1,357 were children.
This is unacceptable.
We are also witnessing hostilities spreading across Ukraine’s borders, with regular cross-border strikes into the Russian Federation.
Attacks on civilians and on civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international law. They must cease immediately, and we continue to condemn them, wherever they occur.
Madam President,
The intensifying attacks come with a heavy toll on Ukraine’s critical civilian infrastructure.
Since March, the large-scale coordinated attacks on critical infrastructure destroyed or damaged more than two dozen energy facilities throughout the country, including the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant. These attacks have disrupted access to electricity for millions of Ukrainians in large cities and in rural areas. Water supply was also disrupted in some locations.
We are concerned about the humanitarian consequences, given reports that the disruptions may last for many months due to the extent of the widespread damage.
In March, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights also recorded a total of 12 medical facilities and 32 educational facilities destroyed or damaged.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ms. Edem Wosornu, Operations Director) will brief in more detail about the humanitarian situation and the UN response in Ukraine.
Madam President,
In a disturbing reminder of the serious risks posed by this war, on Sunday, Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant - Europe’s largest and currently under the military occupation of the Russian Federation - was directly targeted in military action for the first time since November 2022. Three people were reportedly injured in the attack. Subsequent drone attacks were also reported on Monday and Tuesday.
According to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, these attacks represent a serious threat to nuclear safety and security of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and are a clear violation of the five basic principles of the International Atomic Energy Agency for protecting the facility.
We join Director General Grossi in his call for the immediate cessation of such inexcusable attacks to avoid a major nuclear accident.
No one can benefit – neither militarily nor politically – from attacking nuclear facilities. Instead, the consequences of a nuclear accident – whether intentional or not - could be catastrophic to us all.
Any action violating the basic principles that protect these sites must be avoided.
Madam President,
We welcome the renewal of the mandates of the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.
Monitoring and reporting on the scale of human rights violations is an integral part of steps towards accountability.
It is therefore of utmost importance that these bodies can continue their crucial work to report on human rights and humanitarian law violations resulting from Russia’s invasion. We continue to urge the Russian Federation to fully cooperate and grant access to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and independent monitors to areas of Ukraine it occupies. OHCHR continues to have a daily presence near frontline and in conflict-affected areas, which allows OHCHR to document firsthand accounts of the human rights situation.
We continue to call for accountability for all violations of human rights, in line with international norms and standards.
Madam President,
The current trajectory of escalation of this war is a direct threat to regional stability and international security. Most of all, it is an existential threat to the people of Ukraine.
As we have repeatedly stated, we need a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in Ukraine, in line with the Charter, international law and resolutions of the General Assembly, respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
We therefore reiterate the call made by the General Assembly in support of de-escalation and a peaceful resolution of the conflict, in its resolution Territorial integrity of Ukraine: defending the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, adopted in February last year.
The United Nations remains ready to support all efforts to this end.
Thank you.
Sharp divisions emerged on Thursday as the General Assembly debated Russia’s veto on the Security Council which blocked renewal of the sanctions panel which monitors the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) nuclear weapon and missile programmes.
Russian attacks on cities and towns across Ukraine, including intense and systematic targeting of the energy infrastructure, “have become a daily destructive pattern” in recent weeks, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Thursday.
People in Gaza are struggling to survive, said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, who was part of a team carrying out an assessment mission on Wednesday in the southern city of Khan Younis following the Israeli military withdrawal last week.
Call for Applications – UN DPPA Women in Ceasefire Negotiations Course from 3 September to 6 November 2024
"Ceasefires are not only about stopping the fighting between belligerents. Effective ceasefire agreements protect civilians and enable humanitarian access to vulnerable populations. From a political standpoint, ceasefires are a major opportunity to set the foundation for inclusive and comprehensive peace talks." - Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs
Women are systematically underrepresented as direct participants in ceasefire negotiations and implementation. The DPPA Women in Ceasefire Negotiations Course seeks to address this by honing the technical skills of women peacemakers and negotiators to enable their meaningful participation in ceasefire and security arrangement negotiations and implementation. The course targets mid- and senior level women mediators, women negotiators from conflict parties, and women peacemakers.
More information can be found in the flyer here.
Interested women candidates are invited to apply via this Application Form by 31 May 2024.
Colombia has reached an “important juncture” in advancing peace after decades of war, but efforts to sustain the current momentum must be redoubled, the head of a UN mission in the country told the Security Council on Tuesday.
At least 38 migrants - including women and children – died when their overcrowded boat capsized off the coast of Djibouti, the UN migration agency (IOM) reported on Tuesday.
The 60th round of the Geneva International Discussions (GID) took place on 4-5 April 2024 in accordance with the six-point agreement of 12 August 2008 and implementing measures of 8 September 2008.
Despite the continued highly challenging regional and geopolitical environment, the participants reconfirmed their commitment to GID process as the only platform where the conflict consequences are being addressed since 2008.
The participants reviewed the security situation on the ground since the last round held in December 2023, and assessed it as relatively stable. There were extensive and substantive exchanges of views on ways to further address core issues on the GID agenda, including non-use of force and international security arrangements. The Co-Chairs called on the participants to think about innovative approaches and engage constructively in order to achieve progress and concrete results on these and other topics, for the benefit of the conflict-affected population and lasting peace.
The issue of internally displaced persons and refugees could not be discussed due to a walkout by some participants.
It was agreed to hold the next GID round on 25-26 June 2024.
The President of the UN General Assembly appealed on Monday for “all those with leverage” to use their power to bring an end to the six-month-long war in Gaza.
UN humanitarians on Monday made clear the emergency response in Haiti’s capital continues despite ongoing insecurity caused by months of gang-led violence there.
The Security Council prepared to convene on Monday to consider a Palestinian request for United Nations membership as humanitarians expressed deep concerns about Israel’s planned invasion of Rafah and the desperate lack of aid reaching Gaza.
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency reiterated that attacks against nuclear power plants in Ukraine are “an absolute no go”, following direct military action targeting the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) on Sunday.
The UN’s overriding mission in Gaza to ‘flood the place with food’ and avert famine, has moved forward this week thanks to Israel’s public pledge to increase the flow of aid, despite signs on Sunday that the feared invasion of Rafah is imminent.
A brief roundup of United Nations-related political and peacebuilding events and developments globally.
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The destruction wrought across the Gaza Strip by Israel in the six months since the massacre of Israeli and other citizens by Hamas on 7 October 2023 makes for grim reading – over 33,000 people killed and, according to the World Bank, over one million Palestinians are without homes, close to 90 per cent of health facilities have been damaged or wrecked and schools have been destroyed or turned into shelters for the newly homeless.
When the Genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda began in April 1994 Eric Eugene Murangwa was a footballer at one of the country’s top clubs. Although he is a Tutsi, he was protected by a member of the notorious Interahamwe, responsible for killing hundreds of thousands. Ahead of the 30th anniversary of the genocide, marked on 7 April, Mr. Murangwa shared his extraordinary story with UN News.
With the largest hospital in Gaza largely destroyed and out of action, access to healthcare has now become “totally inadequate” following six months of brutal fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants, said the World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday.
The UN’s top human rights body adopted a resolution on Friday condemning the alleged “use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in Gaza”, while also calling for an arms embargo on Israel.
Aid officials called on the Security Council on Friday to step in to stop the carnage in Gaza as the war enters its sixth month amid a man-made famine, Israel’s constant bombardment, targeted killings of aid workers and Palestinians civilians and “zero accountability” for the perpetrators.
Israel must make meaningful changes in the way it is fighting in Gaza to avoid civilian casualties while also undergoing “a true paradigm shift” in lifesaving aid delivery, the UN chief said on Friday.
The UN Security Council on Friday strongly condemned the latest rise in attacks by the M23 rebel group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s restive east, which has undermined security and exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation.
