Bienvenidos a las Naciones Unidas

Reports and Policy Documents

2019

  • 3 Jun 2019

    KABUL- As we celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr around the world after a month of fasting and worship, I wish all Afghans Eid Mubarak on behalf of the United Nations in Afghanistan.

    To allow all...

  • 1 Jun 2019

    Mogadishu, 1 June 2019 – The Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) and the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in...

  • 31 Mayo 2019

    Since the suicide bombings in Sri Lanka on April 21, there have been concerns for the safety of refugees and asylum seekers living in the country: in the immediate aftermath, there were reports of refugees being targeted and forced from their homes by angry mobs threatening reprisals for the Easter Sunday attacks which targeted Christian churches, as well as upscale hotels.

  • 31 Mayo 2019


     

    25 - 31 May 2019

    This Week in DPPA aims to keep you abreast of developments and events on the agenda of the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, at UN HQ and in the field, and especially those that sometimes "fly under the radar".

    New York

    “No military solution to the conflict in Syria”
    On 29 May, Special Envoy Geir O. Pedersen briefed the Security Council, in closed consultations, on the situation in Syria. After the meeting, the Special Envoy participated in a media stakeout, where repeated that there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria. He also expressed grave concern for the situation of the 3 million civilians in Idlib province. 
    Watch the envoy address the media here


    New Special Representative for Somalia
    On 30 May, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the appointment of James Swan of the United States as his Special Representative for Somalia and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). Mr. Swan is an experienced diplomat with a long international career in the United States Government. He spent most of his career in African countries facing complex political transitions.
    Read full announcement
     

    Senior Leadership Travel 

    Assistant Secretary-General Jenča visits Kosovo
    From 26 – 28 May, Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča visited Kosovo to meet with local stakeholders. In Pristina, the ASG met with the Kosovo Assembly President and the Minister of Local Government and Administration. He met with woman leaders to hear more about their work on gender equality, violence against woman and implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 on woman, peace and security. In Gracanica monestary, he discussed the importance of dialogue, tolerance, reconciliation, and protection of religious sites with Bishop Teodosije.


    African Union

    UN AU office inks partnership with think tank  
    The UN Office to the African Union (UNOAU) and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), an Africa-based think tank, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 29 May. The agreement will serve as a framework for collaboration between UNOAU and ISS in support of the African Union, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Regional Mechanisms (RMs), as well as African Member States to strengthen the UN – AU partnership in peace and security.



    Finding a path to women’s leadership in arms control
    UNOAU participated in the “Path to Peaceful Studies – Consultation on Harnessing Women’s Leadership on Arms Control to Prevent Violence and Advance Development” consultative workshop held at African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa from 29-30 May 2019. The consultation brought together a group of leading female disarmament and violence prevention leaders from across Africa who interacted with AU, UN, Government and think tank actors to map the ongoing local disarmament and violence prevention methods and set the course for future emerging research priorities.
    Read the full story on UNOAU’s website.


     

     

     

    Guinea-Bissau

    Community outreach programme to remote parts of Guinea-Bissau
    The third edition of the UNIOGBIS community outreach programme came to an end on 26 May. Between 17 and 26 May, three teams travelled to 15 remote villages to talk about UNIOGBIS mandate and transition, constitutional framework, reforms and electoral process, human rights, and promotion of citizenship. The community outreach programme will continue in the capital Bissau in June.
    Read the full story on UNIOGBIS website

     

    Great Lakes 

    Special Envoy participates at Presidential inauguration in South Africa
    One May 25, the Special Envoy for Great Lakes Region, Huang Xia, represented the UN Secretary General at the inauguration ceremony of the President-elect of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria.

     

    Central Africa 

    High-level roundtable on human rights in Central Africa
    Ms. Marilyn Mgum Fru, Senior Political Affairs Officer at UNOCA, participated in a high-level roundtable on the role of political parties in the promotion of human rights, peacebuilding and democracy in Cameroon, from 28-29 May in the capital Yaoundé. The encounter was organized by the United Nations Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa with the support of national and international partners as well as other UN entities.

     

    Afghanistan

    Grave concern about accounts of Taliban ill-treatment of detainees
    This week, UNAMA expressed grave concern about what the Mission described as credible accounts of Taliban subjecting detainees to ill-treatment and actions that may amount to torture, as well as serious allegations that some detainees were killed. UNAMA’s preliminary findings derived from face-to-face interviews with 13 detainees freed from a Taliban-run detention facility in Uruzgan on 25 April 2019 in an Afghan National Army Special Forces operation. Read the full story on UNAMA’s website.

     

    Iraq

    Training on national and international fair trial rights
    On 27 May, the UNAMI’s Human Rights Office and the Kirkuk chapter of the Iraqi Bar Association jointly conducted a training session named “Understanding national and international fair trial guarantees”. This was the second training session for members of the Bar Association in Kirkuk this year.
    Read the full story on UNAMI’s website


    Support for the rights of minorities in Iraq
    On 29 May 2019, UNAMI’s Human Rights Office (HRO) in Baghdad convened the second roundtable discussion on the rights of minorities in Iraq, in line with its mandate to support the Government to fulfil its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The discussion was aimed at enabling a structured forum for advocacy on the implementation the CERD Committee recommendation made to the Government of Iraq in January 2019, to accelerate the process of reinstating the citizenship of some Faili Kurds which was lost in the 1980s. Read the full story on UNAMI’s Facebook page


    Colombia

    400 women meet to discuss their reintegration process
    On May 30, the UN Verification Mission in Colombia attended the national conference of women in reintegration into civilian life, organized by the FARC National Commission on Women, Gender, and Diversity. Some four hundred women participated in the four-day meeting where they discussed their living conditions, overall needs, and work strategies for their economic, political and social autonomy. "The mission recognizes your efforts and we will continue to work within the framework of our mandate to support actions to ensure your active and meaningful participation in the reintegration process”, said Raúl Rosende, Head of Verification of the UN mission.

     

     

     

    Subscribe to This Week in DPPA by clicking here: 

    Sign Up Now

    For Email Marketing you can trust.

    Contact DPPA at dppa@un.org 

  • 31 Mayo 2019

    Amid the world’s largest humanitarian crisis still unfolding in Yemen, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has gained access to the rebel-held northern district of Nihm, for the first time since the war between Houthis and the Saudi-backed Government coalition escalated in 2015.

  • 30 Mayo 2019

    A marked escalation in fighting has put tens of thousands of children in northwest Syria at “imminent risk of injury, death and displacement”, the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) chief warned on Thursday.

  • 30 Mayo 2019

    United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of James Swan of the United States as his Special Representative for Somalia and Head...

  • 30 Mayo 2019

    Discussion during a session on localizing gender in small and light weapons disarmament efforts

    On May 29-30, 2019, UNOAU participated in the “Path to Peaceful Studies – Consultation on Harnessing Women’s Leadership on Arms...

  • 30 Mayo 2019

    With the post-world war international institutions eroded and under threat, a “strong and united Europe” standing alongside the United Nations, has never been more essential, said UN chief António Guterres in Germany on Thursday.

  • 29 Mayo 2019

    PUL-E-KHUMRI - Afghanistan’s long conflict must end, as it is perpetuating a cycle of poverty, illiteracy and inequality among millions of Afghans, said...

  • 28 Mayo 2019

    The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday that much greater protection for educational facilities was needed across Afghanistan where attacks against schools have increased three-fold in just one year. The call coincides with the third International Conference on Safe Schools, taking place this week in Mallorca, Spain.

  • 28 Mayo 2019

    Although the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to make headway thanks to the determination of health workers on the ground, insecurity is still hampering the response, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. This has led the UN to establish a new coordination structure in the hopes that access to at-risk areas can be improved.

  • 28 Mayo 2019

    UNIOGBIS is undertaking the third edition of its community outreach programme on the Mission’s mandate and transition, constitutional framework, reforms and electoral process, and promotion of...

  • 28 Mayo 2019

    After eight years of deadly air strikes and terrorist attacks that have left hundreds of thousands of Syrians dead and millions of others injured, United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Ursula Mueller asked the Security Council on Tuesday, the hard-hitting question: “Can’t this Council take any concrete action when attacks on schools and hospitals have become a war tactic that no longer sparks outrage”?

  • 27 Mayo 2019

    On 24 May the group of five international partners of Guinea-Bissau - the African Union, CPLP, ECOWAS, European Union, and the United Nations - issued a statement expressing concern...

  • 27 Mayo 2019

    UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis welcomes the Cabinet’s endorsement of the 2019 draft State budget and hopes that following a thorough review by the Parliament it will be adopted as quickly as possible.  “The adoption of the 2019 budget creates an opportunity to take initial measures to reduce the deficit.  It is also an opportunity to start introducing necessary reforms in a politically -, economically - and socially-sustainable way as a part of the broader effort...

  • 27 Mayo 2019

    UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis welcomes the Cabinet’s endorsement of the 2019 draft State budget and hopes that following a thorough review by the Parliament it will be adopted as quickly as possible.  “The adoption of the 2019 budget creates an opportunity to take initial measures to reduce the deficit.  It is also an opportunity to start introducing necessary reforms in a politically -, economically - and socially-sustainable way as a part of the broader effort...

  • 27 Mayo 2019

    Nowhere is safe in Yemen, the head of the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF said, after an attack in the city of Taiz claimed the lives of 12 civilians, including seven youngsters – the latest victims of the country’s more than four-year war. 

  • 27 Mayo 2019

    The Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas,  visited respectively Sierra Leone and Liberia from 23 to...

  • 26 Mayo 2019

    TRIPLOI, 26 May 2019- UNSMIL is deeply concerned at a series of serious incidents which have taken place in the last few days in and around Tripoli.

     

    ...
  • 26 Mayo 2019

    The town of Kitchanga, in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), hosts the highest concentration of internally displaced people in the country, and has been one of the regions most affected by clashes between local communities, made up of Tutsis and Hutus, especially in terms of accessing land. Today, however, thanks to a UN initiative, many disputes over land in Kitchanga are resolved through dialogue instead of violence, and families can cultivate, rent and make a profit from their land.

  • 26 Mayo 2019

    The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed “grave concern” on Sunday over “credible accounts” it has been given that Taliban militants have been mistreating prisoners, which in some cases “may amount to torture”. 

  • 25 Mayo 2019

    KABUL - The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan expresses grave concern about credible accounts of Taliban subjecting detainees to ill-treatment and actions that may amount to torture, as well as serious...

  • 25 Mayo 2019

    KABUL - The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) remains concerned about the continuing heavy toll on civilians from the conflict taking place during the holy month of Ramadan, and urges parties to do...

  • 24 Mayo 2019

    But for the selfless bravery of the UN ‘blue helmet’ who dragged him to safety during a firefight against Congolese militiamen, it is unlikely that Corporal Ali Khamis Omary would be alive to tell the tale. The man who saved him, Malawian peacekeeper Chancy Chitete, was not so lucky.

  • 24 Mayo 2019

    Friday's main stories include: Honouring UN peacekeepers; landmark conference to combat sexual and gender-based violence in crises; Kenya upholds LGBT ban; UNICEF’s plea for Afghani children; Brazil’s bid to compensate tobacco smokers; Water shortages in Bangladesh

  • 24 Mayo 2019


     

    18 - 24 May 2019

    This Week in DPPA aims to keep you abreast of developments and events on the agenda of the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, at UN HQ and in the field, and especially those that sometimes "fly under the radar".

    New York

    “Libya is on verge of descending into a civil war”, SRSG Salame tells Security Council
    On 21 May, Ghassan Salame, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), briefed the Council on the situation Libya. Read full statement here.

    SRSG for Iraq urges Council for continued, wide-based international support
    On 21 May, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), briefed the Council on the situation in Iraq. She warned of the risk of "creating a new breeding ground for the next generation of terrorists" if the issue of returning ISIL-fighters from Syria to Iraq is not managed adequately.  Read the full statement here.  

    Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East. Special Envoy condemned all attacks on civilians
    On 22 May, Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO), briefed the Council on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestine question."The prolonged absence of a political horizon to resolve the broader conflict has coincided with a steady deterioration of the living conditions of Palestinians." Read the full statement here.   

    Somalia on a positive trajectory despite a challenging security environment, Deputy SRSG tells Council
    On 22 May, Raisedon Zenega, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), briefed the Council on the situation in Somalia. Read the full statement here.
     

    Senior Leadership Travel 

    Assistant Secretary-General Jenča visits Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkey for high-level meetings
    This week, Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča visited Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkey. In the Uzbek capital Tashkent, he met with Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov to discuss the Aral Sea Trust Fund, regional support for the Afghanistan Peace Process and UN – Uzbekistan cooperation. In Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, he met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to discuss UN – Kazakhstan partnership on peace and security and the upcoming presidential elections in the country. In Turkey, Mr. Jenča first attended the Peace and Development Advisers Retreat in Istanbul, before continuing to Ankara for bilateral meetings with Turkish authorities.

    PDA Retreat in Istanbul
    This week, the 7th Global Peace and Development Advisors (PDA) Retreat took place in Istanbul, Turkey. PDA's are part of the joint UNDP–DPPA programme on building national capacities for conflict prevention. The retreat gathered close to 100 participants. “PDA’s are our best assets in a country. They are a key element of the UN reforms, ensuring a joint up and integrated approach”, Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča said in his opening remarks.


     

    African Union

    UNOAU Newsletter
    This week, the UN Office to the AU launched – UNOAU Highlights – a monthly newsletter. Read and sign up here.


    Central Africa

    Special Representative visits Burundi
    This week, François Louncény Fall, Special Representative and Head of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa, visited Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi. There, he met with the Special Envoy for Burundi, Michel Kafondo, Ambassadors and the UN Country Team. The discusses issues of common interest, including the next meeting of the UN Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa (UNSAC), scheduled to be held in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
     

     

    Afghanistan

    We must seize this opportunity for peace, say Helmand community leaders
    Afghans must put aside their differences and seize any opportunity for peace, urged panellists in a UN-backed television programme in the southern province of Helmand. Speaking on the local independent Sabawoon TV, which broadcasts in and around the province’s capital of Lashkar Gah, religious scholars, provincial officials, rights activists and other community leaders highlighted that the current political environment offers an unprecedented opening for Afghanistan to push for peace and a real chance for all communities have a better future. Audience members joined speakers in underscoring the importance of women’s full and meaningful participation in any peace talks and the need to safeguard human rights in any political settlement. Read the full story on UNAMA’s website.

    UNAMA rights chief visits prison outside Kabul
    On 22 May, Richard Bennett, human rights chief at UNAMA, visited the Pul-i-Charki Prison outside Kabul. He met with prison authorities and prisoners, both male and female. Monitoring detention facilities is essential for preventing ill-treatment of prisoners and improving their conditions.


    Syria

    Syria envoy, in Jordan, pledges to share messages of Syrian refugees with the world
    This week, Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy for Syria, has been in Jordan. On 20 May, he visited Za’atari Refugee Camp, home to 80, 000 Syrian refuges. After listening to women, men and youth who shared their personal stories, the Special Envoy assured them he would share their messages and hopes, with the international community and the Syrian government. Mr. Pedersen also met with Foreign Minister of Jordan, Mr. Ayman Safadi, and thanked Jordan for its efforts in hosting Syrian refugees.
     


    Colombia

    Private sector of Antioquia, Colombia, interested in supporting reintegration of former FARC combatants
    On 22 May, the UN Verification Mission in Colombia and a private sector delegation convened by the Proantioquia group of companies visited Llano Grandes Reintegration Area in Antioquia department to explore efforts to advance the reintegration and social development of former combatants and the local community. The private sector delegation expressed interest in supporting the reintegration process. “Successful peacebuilding requires a collective response from Government, FARC, the community, private sector and international cooperation", said Carlos Ruiz Massieu, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, at the end of the visit.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Subscribe to This Week in DPPA by clicking here: 

    Sign Up Now

    For Email Marketing you can trust.

    Contact DPPA at dppa@un.org 

  • 24 Mayo 2019

    Ever since the UN deployed the first of its 72 peacekeeping missions back in 1948, more than 3,800 peacekeepers have lost their lives, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday, at a wreath laying ceremony in honour of those “brave men and women” who serve.

  • 24 Mayo 2019

    In Afghanistan, children suffering from the most serious form of malnutrition may die, unless $7 million in funding is found within weeks, UNICEF said on Friday.

  • 23 Mayo 2019

    Thursday’s main stories include: Better safeguards to protect civilians in conflict; UN ramps up coordination to beat Ebola in DR Congo; Obstetric fistula continues to afflict women; UN mission condemns attack in Central African Republic 

  • 23 Mayo 2019

    Thursday’s main stories include: Better safeguards to protect civilians in conflict; UN ramps up coordination to beat Ebola in DR Congo; Obstetric fistula continues to afflict women; UN chief strongly condemns attack in Central African Republic 

  • 23 Mayo 2019

    Marking 20 years since the UN Security Council added the protection of civilians to its agenda, Secretary-General António Guterres told the chamber on Thursday that while safeguards were stronger, “compliance has deteriorated”.  

  • 22 Mayo 2019

    Despite Somalia’s persistent security threats, recurrent political crises, capacity constraints and the difficulties in navigating political obstacles to its reform agenda, the Horn of Africa country remains on a “positive trajectory,” the UN Security Council was told on Wednesday.

  • 22 Mayo 2019

    Today's top stories include: boosting profits at work by hiring more women leaders; saving biodiversity to beat climate change; General Assembly condemns UK over Chagos Islands; just a month of funding left for Gaza; celebrating malaria-free Algeria and Argentina; and justice experts dicuss how best to fight hate crime. 

  • 22 Mayo 2019

    The head of the UN relief and works agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) warned on Wednesday that despite weathering a “truly existential crisis” over funding last year, money to continue operations this year in the Gaza Strip will only last until mid-June. 

  • 22 Mayo 2019

    Tripoli, May 2019 - From 1 February to 31 March 2019, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) documented civilian casualties – 20 deaths and 69 injuries - during the conduct of...

  • 22 Mayo 2019

    New York, 22 May 2019

    From individual species through entire ecosystems, biological diversity is vital for human health and...

  • 21 Mayo 2019

    Mr. President,

    UNSOM began the new year facing a security crisis as a result of the mortar attack on the UN compound on 1 January, and a political crisis as a result of the expulsion of SRSG Nicholas Haysom on the same day.

    The two incidents severely disrupted mandate implementation of the Mission’s engagement with the Federal Government of Somalia and mandate implementation. They also elevated the security risk level for UN personnel and left our staff deeply...

  • 21 Mayo 2019

    Mr. President,

    UNSOM began the new year facing a security crisis as a result of the mortar attack on the UN compound on 1 January, and a political crisis as a result of the expulsion of SRSG Nicholas Haysom on the same day.

    The two incidents severely disrupted mandate implementation of the Mission’s engagement with the Federal Government of Somalia and mandate implementation. They also elevated the security risk level for UN personnel and left our staff deeply...

  • 21 Mayo 2019

    Iraq’s democratic transition – weighed down by political infighting, weak institutions, corruption, and the constant threat of ISIL – needs more international support, “lots of time and lots of hard work,” the top United Nations official in the country said on Tuesday.  

  • 21 Mayo 2019

    Tuesday’s stories include: Libya facing “permanent division”, regional war; Africa event highlights forcible displacement; terrorists’ children ‘secretly detained’ in Syria; Venezuelans need protection; global trade tensions rise.

  • 21 Mayo 2019

    The damage done to Libya will already take “years to mend” but unless fighting around the capital Tripoli stops, the country risks “descending into a civil war which could lead to the permanent division of the country”.

  • 21 Mayo 2019

    SRSG Tetteh briefs on achievements and ways forward in the UN-AU partnership

    The Friends of the UN-AU Partnership initiative was launched at the African Union Headquarters on April 20, 2019....

  • 21 Mayo 2019

    LASHKAR GAH - Panellists in a UN-backed television programme in the southern province of Helmand called on all Afghans to put aside their differences and seize any...

  • 21 Mayo 2019

    ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan

    On 21 May, SRSG Natalia Gherman met with H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, Minister of...

  • 20 Mayo 2019

    Former FARC-EP combatants located in the communities at the Arquia riverside are working in the formulation of a farming project, that will allow them to move forward to a new life in...

  • 20 Mayo 2019

    This Monday, headline stories include: WFP mulls “last resort” aid suspension in Yemen; highest UN peacekeeping award to be given on Friday; busy pollinators are focus of World Bee Day; Ebola threat still “very high”.

  • 20 Mayo 2019

    On 19 May 2019, during late night hours, a water control station in the Jabal al-Hasawna – southwestern Libya, was deliberately shut down cutting off water supply from the Great Man-Made River (GMMR) to Tripoli and some cities in the western and middle areas of Libya.

    The UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Maria Ribeiro, condemns in the strongest terms this act that aims to deprive hundreds of thousands of already embattled Libyans of safe drinking water. “Such attacks against...

  • 20 Mayo 2019

    The UN emergency food relief agency said on Monday that without full access and “freedom to decide” who receives lifesaving aid, in Houthi rebel-controlled areas of Yemen, it could be forced to implement a “phased suspension”.

  • 20 Mayo 2019

    In recognition of his “brave and selfless” action under fire in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)  ̶  saving the life of a fellow ‘blue helmet’ and helping his colleagues repel an armed group  ̶  the late Malawian soldier Chancy Chitete, will be honoured with the UN’s highest peacekeeping award this coming Friday, by the UN Secretary-General.