Following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime on Sunday, Syria has entered a period of profound uncertainty, and the UN will have a vital role in ensuring an orderly transition to renewed, stable institutions, continuing efforts to bring together different groups and factions which began at the outset of war in 2011.
Barely 48 hours since opposition forces including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept into Damascus and forced out President Bashar al-Assad, the top UN negotiator tasked with helping the Syrian people to create a peaceful and democratic future insisted that nothing could be taken for granted.
Syria’s historic power reset coupled with the highly volatile situation there, has increased basic needs in a country where nearly 17 million people already depended on aid, UN aid teams insisted on Tuesday.
The historic power shift in Syria adds new complexity to the Middle East crisis, with ongoing Gaza hostilities, violence in the West Bank, and a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon. A closed-door Security Council meeting is expected today. Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis deepens, with millions in urgent need. UN News app users can follow here.
At least 184 people, including 127 elderly men and women, were killed in Haiti’s Wharf Jérémie neighbourhood of Cité Soleil over the weekend, prompting strong condemnation from Secretary-General António Guterres.
The UN Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) briefed the Security Council on Monday on recent developments, including political disagreements over constitutional reform and escalating insecurity in the east.
This publication is a collection of inspiring messages shared by young leaders during the 6th Dialogues between Governments and Youth of Central Asian countries. These discussions took place as part of the 14th annual meeting of the Deputy Foreign Ministers of Central Asian States on November 26, 2024, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Full publication is available ...
After 14 years of brutal war and the fall of the dictatorial regime, today the people of Syria can seize an historic opportunity to build a stable and peaceful future, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Sunday.
As reports continued to emerge from Damascus where opposition forces declared victory on State television on Sunday, the UN’s top humanitarian official insisted that aid teams will continue to provide emergency relief wherever possible.
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There have been significant developments in Iraq in recent months – which has so far avoided being dragged into the widening Middle East conflict – but corruption and other challenges persist, the new UN Special Representative for the country told the Security Council on Friday.
One of the last partially functional health centres in besieged northern Gaza was hit several times overnight into Friday, leaving four health workers among the casualties and the dead, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
More than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into Government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is sanctioned by the Security Council as a terrorist group.
More than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into Government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is sanctioned by the Security Council as a terrorist group.
The UN Secretary-General appealed on Thursday for an end to the fighting in Syria, where a recent escalation raises the risk of further division in the ongoing civil war.
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador Ishmael Beah visited Sudan this week, meeting children and families whose lives have been upended by the brutal war between rival militaries which has upended the country.
The Middle East crisis continues to deepen, with families in Gaza struggling to secure basic food amid constant displacement, plummeting temperatures, and relentless conflict. Meanwhile, civil war in Syria has reignited, where the status quo has been “radically altered” in recent days, creating an “extremely fluid and dangerous” situation, says the UN Special Envoy there. Violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon are also continuing – we're covering it all live. UN News app users can follow here.
Every year, the launch of the Global Humanitarian Overview is an opportunity to highlight where needs are greatest and how much funding is needed to help some of the most vulnerable people on Earth. Read our live updates of events as they unfolded in Kuwait, Nairobi and Geneva, hosted by the UN's new Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, with highlights from humanitarians around the world, from Gaza to Ukraine. UN News app users can follow our coverage here.
The plight of children impacted by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was the focus of debate in the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
Madam President,
I would like to thank the United States for organizing this intergenerational leadership on women, peace and security.
Around the world, peace is in a perilous state.
We face rising violence and diversifying threats to peace and security – from climate crises to hybrid warfare.
We see growing geopolitical contestation and polarization, yet the avenues for meaningful diplomatic dialogue are shrinking.
Amid these crises, young women peacebuilders are demonstrating that a better world is possible.
In Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai championed girls’ right to education undeterred by an assassination attempt. She remains the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate ever.
In Sweden, Greta Thunberg has galvanized millions through the Fridays for Future movement to confront the climate crisis.
In Somalia, Ilwad Elman works to rehabilitate child soldiers while empowering other young people to help prevent violent extremism.
These remarkable leaders remind us that transformation requires bucking the status quo.
We must embrace new approaches to cultivate a new generation of leaders – especially young women and girls – who are at the forefront of reshaping power structures and advancing peace.
Madam President,
The Secretary-General’s policy brief on A New Agenda for Peace calls for dismantling entrenched patriarchal systems, which perpetuate inequality and exclusion.
It underscores the urgent need to reimagine global power structures and place women and girls – especially young women – at the center of our efforts to address the root causes of conflict and insecurity.
If we do not break free from patriarchal norms, true peace and inclusive security will remain out of reach.
In this context, the strong support for the women, peace and security agenda in the Pact for the Future is potentially transformational.
The Pact underscores the importance of ensuring that women’s leadership and participation are integrated into all aspects of conflict prevention and sustaining peace.
It also reaffirms our collective commitment to investing in young women as changemakers in the pursuit of sustainable peace.
Madam President,
I would like to highlight three key areas in advancing intergenerational leadership: facilitating dialogues, fostering inclusive peace processes, and investing in young women’s leadership.
First, tackling today’s conflicts requires forward-looking visions that are shared broadly within societies and transcend generations.
Intergenerational dialogues are critical opportunities for building trust and articulating shared aspirations.
In Chad, for example, the Peacebuilding Fund supported local dialogue platforms that brought together youth associations with traditional authorities to peacefully resolve disputes and lead prevention campaigns.
The diverse young women and men and community elders committed to duties and responsibilities in a signed “intergenerational charter”.
The platform strengthened social cohesion and reduced intercommunal tensions and conflicts in the Nya Pendé and Barh Sara regions.
In The Gambia, dialogues in the three River regions brought together national and local authorities, police, ministries, and youth to improve trust. This included mentoring programmes by women politicians with young women running for office.
The dialogues promote the involvement of women and youth in ongoing national processes and reforms. This intergenerational dialogue also helped improve the relationship between youth and security forces.
Second, peace cannot be achieved through deals made by elites alone.
Advancing inclusive, multi-track peace processes that prioritize diverse groups of women, including young women, and promote their leadership and rights at every level is essential for locally owned infrastructures for peace.
We recognize the diverse and changing mediation landscape today.
This year, during the annual open debate on women, peace and security, the Secretary-General launched his “Common Pledge on women’s participation in peace processes”.
This initiative invites diverse mediation actors, including Member States and regional organizations, to join the United Nations in taking concrete actions to ensure women’s participation in peace processes.
We urge all stakeholders to step forward and sign the Pledge.
We know that mediation processes that systematically include women and civil society are more likely to generate national ownership and stronger support for a negotiated settlement.
Only through collective efforts can we move toward more inclusive and durable peace processes.
The United Nations actively backs multi-track efforts that promote peace from the bottom up, emphasizing young women’s leadership.
In Colombia, where I recently represented the Secretary-General at the 8th anniversary of the 2016 Final Peace Agreement, the UN Verification Mission supports Colombian women and men from all backgrounds and of all ages, addressing stigmatization of ex-combatants in reintegration areas.
I saw this work up close when I visited the Agua Bonita reintegration area in southwest Colombia.
In Yemen, the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, in partnership with UN Women, has organized consultations for a “A Bottom-up Vision for an Inclusive Peace Process”.
This has fostered advocacy coalitions between women’s groups and other stakeholders including youth and traditional leaders, amplified diverse local voices, and reframed the women, peace and security agenda as a broader community priority rather than just a women’s issue.
Third, our investments must be aligned with our priorities.
Significant and sustained resources are essential to support young women peacebuilders and ensure their work flourishes.
In Somalia, thanks to a Peacebuilding Fund initiative, young men and women worked together in managing and restoring water canals across clan lines, overcoming historical grievances and mitigating inter-clan conflicts driven by resource scarcity.
In El Salvador, another project of the Peacebuilding Fund empowered marginalized youth to lead community action.
This became possible through integrating youth into Municipal Committees for the Prevention of Violence, facilitating consultations with local governance actors, and providing capacity training to marginalized youth.
Allowing youth to communicate their concerns contributed to reducing tensions.
The success of these efforts requires more robust and consistent financial backing from the international community.
Investments in women, peace and security agenda are not an option; they are a necessity for preventing conflict and achieving sustainable and inclusive peace.
Madam President,
In the face of unprecedented challenges to global peace and security, young women around the world are envisioning and demanding a world of justice and peace.
As we approach the 25th anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security and the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, we must open doors for the next generation.
Together, we must cultivate leadership from the ground up, placing young women and women’s rights at the heart of our efforts.
Thank you.
Peace is in peril worldwide and avenues for diplomatic dialogue are shrinking, but young women peacebuilders are demonstrating that a better world is possible, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Tuesday.
Syria’s status quo has been “radically altered” in a matter of days, with a surge in fighting resulting in an “extremely fluid and dangerous” situation, the UN Special Envoy for the country warned on Tuesday.
The President of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday emphasised that peace and security in Middle East cannot be achieved through force or occupation but only through dialogue, mutual recognition and a commitment to a just, comprehensive, and lasting solution based on international law.
The United Nations has condemned deadly shelling on Zamzam camp, the largest site for internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Darfur region of Sudan.
The ongoing escalation of violence in northwest Syria linked to the wider conflict in Gaza and Lebanon has left civilians dead and injured, hospitals “overwhelmed” with healthcare attacks on the rise, the UN warned on Tuesday.
Excellencies,
For more than 1,000 days, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in blatant violation of the UN Charter and international law, has brought horrific suffering to the people of Ukraine.
Thousands of civilians, including hundreds of children, have been killed.
Millions remain displaced.
Residential areas, health and educational facilities, ports and cultural sites have been hit by attacks of the Russian Federation.
And as we enter the cold winter season, Russia’s massive attacks continue to lead to further death and destruction across the country.
Since March this year, Russian armed forces have conducted repeated large-scale, systematic and coordinated attacks on energy infrastructure that is critical to the civilian population in Ukraine.
The complex and coordinated nature of the strikes, the number of attacks across the country, and their regular official acknowledgment are indicators that the attacks against the electricity network are of a widespread and systematic nature, with the apparent aim to damage or destroy Ukraine’s country-wide electricity generating, transmission, and distribution capacity.
We note with concern the widespread use of armed uncrewed aerial vehicles and missiles against civilian energy infrastructure.
We are also concerned about reports of the use of cluster munitions, considering the indiscriminate effects of these weapons and the widespread harm to civilians long after conflicts have ended.
As we informed in our last briefings to the Security Council several major attacks have occurred in the past weeks, as winter set in and temperatures dropped below freezing.
On 28 November, nearly 200 missiles and drones targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure reportedly left several people injured and more than a million households without power.
These are just some of the most recent attacks that are adding to the already unbearable toll. More than 60 percent of Ukraine’s energy generation facilities have been damaged, according to UNDP.
The massive destruction risks deteriorating the already dire humanitarian situation in the country and making this winter the harshest so far for the civilian population.
We are particularly concerned about the impact of the extended power cuts on the most vulnerable population, including elderly people, people with disabilities and limited mobility, and those residing in the areas near the front lines.
Sustained donor support remains essential for us to continue delivering life-saving aid to those in need.
The Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator in Ukraine Matthias Schmale will share more details about the impact of these unacceptable attacks hitting civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, and the United Nations’ response on the ground.
The United Nations strongly condemns all attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure. These attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law, regardless of where they occur. They must end immediately.
Excellencies,
In addition to the suffering to the civilian population, the war continues to put Ukraine’s nuclear safety and security at risk.
Any incident involving nuclear facilities – whether intentional or by accident – could lead to catastrophic consequences beyond any state borders.
Following the most recent wave of attacks, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 28 November reported that Ukraine’s three operating nuclear power plants reduced their electricity generation.
While there were no reports of direct damage to the nuclear power plants, the IAEA was informed by the authorities that the strikes impacted electrical substations, which the plants use to transmit and receive off-site power.
Such attacks are dangerous, irresponsible and must not be repeated.
The IAEA will continue to monitor the safety and security in all of Ukraine’s nuclear sites, including at the Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia.
We continue to call for maximum restraint and urge everyone to refrain from any action or rhetoric that could further endanger nuclear safety and security.
Excellencies,
With each passing day of this war, we witness more suffering, death and destruction.
Let me reiterate: all attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure must end now.
And this war must end – in a just, lasting and comprehensive peace, in line with the UN Charter, international law and resolutions of the General Assembly.
We stand ready to use our good offices and to make available all our tools and experience to this end.
Thank you.
As Haiti grapples with escalating violence and systemic collapse, its children are bearing the brunt of a multipronged crisis that threatens their lives, safety, and future.
The UN Secretary-General has expressed alarm over the sharp escalation of violence across northwest Syria, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to the UN-facilitated political process.
Describing the situation in Gaza as “appalling and apocalyptic” the UN Deputy Secretary-General on Monday called on world leaders to act decisively to alleviate suffering and prevent the further devastation of the enclave.
A sharp escalation in fighting in Syria’s Aleppo Governorate has displaced thousands and caused heavy civilian casualties, prompting urgent warnings from senior UN officials about the growing humanitarian crisis and threat to regional stability.
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