Obstacles to any lasting deal between Israel and Palestine continue to mount, the UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told Security Council members on Wednesday, and only “concrete action” towards a two-State solution will change that dynamic.
Shifting balances of power are triggering “new and dangerous risks”, the UN chief told the Italian Senate in Rome on Wednesday, pointing to the need for more coordinated international responses, focused on solutions.
Extending the deadline for the establishment of a unity government in South Sudan has helped maintain a ceasefire but also disillusioned many citizens, the Security Council heard on Tuesday.
An average of nine children have been killed or maimed every day in Afghanistan so far this year, according to a new report from the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, which describes the country as “the world’s most lethal warzone”.
The search for peace will remain of “paramount importance” to Afghanistan as the country awaits the outcome of the recent presidential election, the top UN official in the country told the Security Council on Monday.
The UN envoy for West Africa and the vast Sahel region, told the Security Council on Monday that in recent months, the region has been “shaken by unprecedented violence”.
Our top stories for Friday include an exclusive UN News interview with Yemen Envoy Martin Griffiths; India’s new “discriminatory” citizenship law; a milestone smallpox eradication anniversary; helicopters deployed in DR Congo Ebola fight; Mediterranean migrant latest, and Chile’s deadly protests: UN report finds clear pattern of repression.
This Week in DPPA is a brief roundup of political and peacebuilding events and developments at UNHQ and around the world.
UkraineUN political chief visits Ukraine
Security CouncilUN Secretary-General urges DPRK and US to resume talks
EgyptAswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development in Africa SomaliaDelegations of AU, EU, IGAD and UN hold consultations with stakeholders in Baidoa and Jowhar The delegation continued to Jowhar, the capital of Hirshabelle state, on 11 December. Noting the country’s goals for 2020 are achievable with the strong collaboration among all stakeholders, the delegation encouraged “all Somali leaders, institutions and communities to engage in dialogue to agree a way forward, and to cooperate to realize the priorities for the year ahead.”
AfghanistanBalkh leaders call for stronger measures to protect children in armed conflict
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Central AsiaTurkmenistan creates national strategy on prevention of violent extremism and countering terrorism
LebanonInternational Support Group (ISG) for Lebanon meets in Paris Northeast AsiaExpert consultations on Women, Peace and Security in Beijing
ColombiaWomen share their experiences in “building memory”
National social dialogue and forum to defend social leaders in Cartagena city
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Contact DPPA at dppa@un.org
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has seen an increase in the number of reported cases of the deadly haemorrhagic virus Ebola linked to ongoing violence by armed groups targeting remote communities, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
When warring parties in Yemen met in a renovated castle outside the Swedish capital last December for UN-brokered talks, they showed that perhaps there could be a way out of brutal conflict and the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the UN Special Envoy for the country said this week.
Escalating violence and insecurity in Mali have sparked an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, rendering 3.9 million people in need of assistance and protection – an increase of 700,000 since the beginning of the year, the UN said on Thursday.
Madam President,
Members of the Security Council,
There have been troubling developments related to the nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – DPRK – in recent months.
The first relates to the resumed missile testing by the DPRK.
The launch of two missiles on 28 November marked the thirteenth time the DPRK has launched ballistic missiles or other projectiles this year.
More recently, on 7 December, the DPRK announced what it referred to as an important test at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground situated on the west coast, that would help to change the “strategic position of the DPRK once again in the near future”. Some experts believe that the word “strategic” refers to the DPRK’s nuclear weapons capability. Analysts have reported signs of a rocket engine test at the site having been conducted within the past few days.
The DPRK through its state media has announced the test of various new missile systems this year, including systems it has referred to as multiple-launch rocket systems as well as a new land-based short-range ballistic missile and a submarine-launched ballistic missile.
As is well known, Security Council resolutions, most recently resolution 2397 of 22 December 2017, prohibit the DPRK from, inter alia, conducting any further launches that use ballistic missile technology. Furthermore, according to the information available to the United Nations, the DPRK did not issue any airspace or maritime safety notifications.
The second development relates to the DPRK’s ongoing suspension of diplomatic engagements. The DPRK has yet to resume working-level talks with the United States; inter-Korean contacts have stalled; and the DPRK is forgoing some international engagements.
The third development relates to the DPRK’s warning of a “new path”.
The DPRK has set a new policy that it will not discuss denuclearization unless the United States’ so-called “hostile policy” is removed; it has set a year-end deadline for the United States to come up with a “bold” proposal agreeable to Pyongyang; and has warned that it would otherwise take a “new path”.
While it is unclear what the “new path” may entail, the DPRK Foreign Ministry stated on 30 November that we may see what a “real ballistic missile is in the not distant future”. In terms of timing, the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea will hold a plenary meeting in “the latter half” of December, to “discuss and decide on crucial issues in line with the needs of the development of the Korean revolution and the changed situation at home and abroad”. Previous sessions of the Central Committee have seen the ruling party prepare for major announcements.
The Secretary-General is very concerned by the latest developments on the Korean Peninsula. The DPRK’s reference to launching ballistic missiles and its threat of potentially taking a so-called “new path” in the coming weeks is deeply troubling. The Secretary-General is reiterating his call on the DPRK leadership to comply fully with its international obligations under relevant Security Council resolutions, resume working-level talks with the United States, and work for peace and stability.
On 15 December 2017, the Secretary-General described the situation on the Korean Peninsula as the most tense and dangerous peace and security issue in the world. Significant progress was made in 2018 towards building trust, reducing the risk of war and opening channels of communication. The summits involving the leaders of the DPRK and the Republic of Korea and United States respectively gave rise to hope that it is possible to build an atmosphere conducive to advancing sustainable peace and complete and verifiable denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.
Today, however, and as mentioned, talks between the DPRK and the United States, as well as between the two Koreas, have stalled.
The Secretary-General calls on the parties to continue what they have started. It will require perseverance, political courage and painstaking diplomacy. He urges the DPRK and the United States to resume talks. Diplomacy can continue to reduce tensions that could otherwise set events on an unpredictable trajectory.
The Secretary-General calls for the international community to support the parties in their endeavours and to ensure the full implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions. The unity of the Security Council remains essential for achieving the goal of complete and verifiable denuclearization and creates the space for diplomatic initiatives to that end.
I would like to close, Madam President, by noting that a breakdown in diplomacy will not help the human rights or humanitarian situation in the DPRK.
Meeting the population’s basic needs of food, access to essential health services as well as to clean water and adequate sanitation, are a humanitarian imperative but also a basic human right.
While the primary responsibility to meet these needs lies with the DPRK Government, as is the case for any government toward its people, the United Nations Secretariat has consistently stressed the humanitarian imperative to provide humanitarian assistance when the basic needs of the population are not being met.
International humanitarian operations in the DPRK remain critical for over 10 million people – or around 40 per cent of the population. The United Nations Secretariat recalls that the measures imposed by the Security Council are not intended to negatively affect or restrict food aid and humanitarian assistance that is not prohibited by relevant Security Council resolutions. The United Nations Secretariat is encouraged by the Security Council 1718 Sanctions Committee’s adoption of Implementation Assistance Notice Number 7 in August 2018, which provides guidelines for obtaining exemptions necessary to facilitate humanitarian assistance in the DPRK, as well as the improvements in rates and timeliness of exemption approvals.
Addressing the humanitarian needs in the DPRK requires an integrated response – for example, addressing water, sanitation and hygiene to also improve health and nutrition - to be effective and to save lives and prevent more suffering. I urge all Member States to fund life-saving humanitarian operations in the DPRK. Some USD 120 million are required to address the critical humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable 3.8 million people in 2019. A gap of USD 87 million remains.
Thank you, Madam President.
Recent developments concerning North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes are “deeply troubling”, the UN’s Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific said on Wednesday, briefed the Security Council.
The Geneva International Discussions (GID) held its 50th round on 10-11 December 2019.
Over the past decade, engagement by participants contributed to relative stability, while core security and humanitarian issues have remained unresolved.
We are now faced with a deteriorating situation on the ground and the participants’ diverging positions on key issues of the agenda have become further entrenched. Since August 2019, there are serious security challenges in the Chorchana-Tsnelisi area. People continue to suffer hardship. Restrictions to freedom of movement have been imposed on several occasions at crossing points with both Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Crossing points on the South Ossetian Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) have been closed for more than five months this year. This has caused an increased number of incidents, including detentions.
Although the 50th round took place in a business-like atmosphere, it was overshadowed by the above-mentioned challenges leading to intense exchanges. As in previous rounds, it was not possible to address issues relating to internally displaced persons/refugees due to a walkout by some participants.
We reiterated our calls for participants to reduce tensions on the South Ossetian ABL, for all crossing points to be reopened, for all detainees to be released, and for participants to engage constructively in dialogue — in Geneva, as well as in the Gali and Ergneti Incident Prevention and Response Mechanisms (IPRMs).
The Co-Chairs commended the commitment of the participants to the GID process and reminded them of the need to reinvigorate it in order to achieve concrete results on key issues of the agenda in the coming year.
The participants agreed to hold their next round on 31 March -1 April 2020.
Making the appeal is the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, who reports that online hostility against activists has increased since the announcement last month of international legal proceedings over the atrocities.
