She Stands For Peace | Season 3-Episode 5 | Out Now! Click here to listen: https://unoau.unmissions.org/podcast-series-she-stands-peace
She Stands For Peace | Season 3-Episode 5 | Out Now! Click here to listen: https://unoau.unmissions.org/podcast-series-she-stands-peace
New York, 16 September 2022
Today, we celebrate 35 years of the Montreal Protocol’s success in protecting the stratospheric ozone layer against synthetic chemicals that also cause climate heating. Thanks to a global agreement, humanity has averted a major health catastrophe due to ultraviolet radiation pouring through a massive hole in the ozone layer.
The Montreal Protocol is a...
New York, 16 September 2022
Today, we celebrate 35 years of the Montreal Protocol’s success in protecting the stratospheric ozone layer against synthetic chemicals that also cause climate heating. Thanks to a global agreement, humanity has averted a major health catastrophe due to ultraviolet radiation pouring through a massive hole in the ozone layer.
The Montreal Protocol is a...
A senior official from the UN Political and Peacebuilding Affairs department has called on Armenia and Azerbaijan “to take immediate and concrete steps to deescalate tensions” following several days of fighting this week which reportedly left dozens dead on both sides.
Mr. President,
Esteemed members of the Council,
I thank you for convening this meeting and for providing the opportunity to brief you on recent developments in the South Caucasus.
On the evening of 12 September, the authorities in Armenia and Azerbaijan reported heavy fighting on their international border. According to reports, heavy artillery, drones and large-caliber weapons were used. The exchange of fire reportedly continued through 13 and 14 September. Yesterday evening, it was announced that a cease-fire had been agreed starting at 8 PM local time. We welcome this agreement and hope the ceasefire will hold.
Earlier this week, the Armenian Ministry of Defense stated that the Azerbaijani side was targeting Armenian military positions, as well as civilian infrastructure, in the Gegharkunik, Vayots Dzor and Syunik regions of the country. Armenia reported 105 of its servicemen killed and six civilians wounded as of last night. While Armenia called the events a deliberate attack, Azerbaijan countered that they were “retaliatory measures” made in response to provocations from Armenia. Azerbaijan, for its part, reported 71 servicemen killed and two civilians wounded.
Both countries have written to the Secretary-General and to the Security Council alleging violations of the ceasefire brokered by Russia in 2020, and of their territorial integrity.
The United Nations is not in a position to verify or confirm the specifics of these reports. We remain deeply concerned, however, over this dangerous escalation, including its possible impact on civilians, and have urged the sides to take immediate and concrete steps to deescalate tensions. The UN Country Teams in both Armenia and Azerbaijan maintain open channels with the authorities and stand prepared to respond to emerging humanitarian needs, if requested and as conditions allow.
Mr. President,
The fighting this week was the latest and the largest in a series of incidents since 2020. It highlights the fact that the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan continues to encounter serious obstacles.
This escalation also underscores the urgent need for the parties to move forward in the ongoing process of delimitation and demarcation within the framework of mutual recognition of their territorial integrity and sovereignty. We urge the parties to take advantage of this important mechanism as an essential step towards alleviating tensions at the border.
This week’s events are also a stark reminder that tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan also have the potential to destabilize the region. They highlight the need for all actors, in the region and beyond, to act constructively and to press the sides to work for a peaceful settlement.
In this regard, a number of mediation efforts have been ongoing in the region, including by the Russian Federation and the European Union. We fully support these international efforts. They can lay the groundwork that would allow the parties to resume dialogue towards long-term peace. The Collective Security Treaty Organization, at the request of Armenia, will send a mission to the Armenia to assess the situation on the border, and report back to its Member States. The United Nations remains in close contact with concerned parties and organizations, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
During my recent visit to the region, I was able to assess first-hand the challenges being faced in resolving the long-lasting conflict. I returned with the conviction that while differences and mistrust persist between the sides, these are surmountable.
Mr. President,
The international community must remain fully committed to a peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan and spare no effort to deescalate the current tensions, bring the parties back to the negotiating table and help them achieve peace and stability in the region.
In the immediate term, the parties must abide by their obligation to fully implement the Trilateral statement on the ceasefire of 9 November 2020. We urge them to return to the negotiating table and take steps towards the signing of a lasting peace treaty. It will be important that a similar unified message come from the Security Council for the parties to focus on a diplomatic solution.
Thank you.
“Progress is possible” to end more than 11 years of war in Syria, in order to produce a peaceful future for all, the UN’s Deputy Special Envoy for the country told the Security Council on Wednesday.
New York, 15 September 2022
Today marks the 15th anniversary of the International Day of Democracy.
Yet across the world, democracy is backsliding.
Civic space is shrinking.
Distrust and disinformation are growing.
And polarization is undermining democratic...
New York, 15 September 2022
Today marks the 15th anniversary of the International Day of Democracy.
Yet across the world, democracy is backsliding.
Civic space is shrinking.
Distrust and disinformation are growing.
And polarization is undermining democratic institutions.
...The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Central Africa and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), Mr. Abdou Abarry, makes his first visit to Angola for the occasion of the Investiture Ceremony of the President and Vice-President of the Republic of Angola, which will take place on 15 September 2022 in Luanda, on behalf of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
...
Civilians are in increasing danger, while humanitarian needs across Sudan “are growing exponentially”, the head of the UN mission in Sudan told ambassadors in the Security Council on Tuesday.
The UN Security Council has urged warring parties in Yemen to urgently intensify negotiations towards expanding their historic truce, according to a statement issued on Monday.
New York, 12 September 2022
In this era of unprecedented challenge and upheaval, solutions lie in solidarity.
South-South and triangular cooperation are critical for developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate disruption, address the global health crisis, including COVID-19 recovery, and achieve all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
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Shelling in the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar is putting the embattled Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) at risk, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned in a statement on Friday.
A large-scale influx of weapons to conflict-affected zones raises many concerns, including the potential for diversion, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, warned the Security Council on Thursday.
Advancing the rights and needs of people whose lives have been upended by terrorism is the goal of a two-day meeting that opened at United Nations Headquarters in New York on Thursday.
She Stands For Peace | Season 3-Episode 4 | Out Now! Click here to listen: https://unoau.unmissions.org/podcast-series-she-stands-peace
A new report has revealed how projects supported by a UN trust fund for victims of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN personnel are helping victims to regain their dignity, learn new skills, and improve their livelihoods while avoiding stigmatization.
New York, 9 September 2022
Education is a fundamental human right and an essential driver for achieving peace and sustainable development.
Unfortunately, this right continues to fall under attack, especially in conflict-affected areas. In 2020 and 2021, the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack reports over 5,000 attacks and cases of military use of schools and...
As the war in Ukraine “continues to rage,” the UN political and peacebuilding chief updated the Security Council, saying on Wednesday that 5,718 people have been killed, including 372 children.
Following the end of the “contentious” electoral process in May, the political climate in Somalia is now more conducive to addressing key national priorities, UN Special Representative James Swan told the Security Council on Wednesday.
Mr. President,
As we are painfully aware, the war in Ukraine continues to rage. Since I briefed this Council on 24 August, because of the fighting, at least 104 civilians, including 10 children have died and at least 253 civilians, including 25 children have been injured according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
This brings the total number to 13,917 civilian casualties: 5,718 killed, including 372 children, and 8,199 injured, including 635 children. These are only verified figures and the actual numbers are likely significantly higher.
The war also continued to drive large-scale displacement.
Over 6.9 million people are internally displaced, a jump of 330,000 since my last briefing. Most of the newly displaced are coming from eastern and southern Ukraine.
The current number of Ukrainian refugees recorded across Europe has surpassed 7 million, up from 6.7 million just two weeks ago.
Ukrainian women, who constitute half of these refugees, continue to face significantly increased security risks, including sexual and gender-based violence, trafficking, exploitation, and abuse.
Thousands of people in the conflict-affected areas of the Donetsk region, and most acutely in the city of Mariupol, lack access to reliable running water, increasing the risk of communicable disease.
All these numbers and facts, though shocking, cannot convey the full scale of the tragedy.
But in the face of the international community’s incapacity to stop this senseless war, we must continue to record its horrific consequences as faithfully and accurately as possible.
It is our responsibility, and indeed the very least we can do - to help prevent the war from escalating further and to deter other potential violent conflicts.
Mr. President,
The UN continues to mobilize to address the massive impact of the war on civilians.
UNDP has launched an assessment of the consequences of the war on living conditions, health, access to education, livelihoods, food security, social status, as well as on overall levels of poverty and human development. Results are expected to be available in December 2022.
As humanitarian needs rapidly rise, the UN’s response has scaled-up and now reaches 12.7 million people with various forms of assistance.
Over 560 humanitarian organizations – more than 60 percent of them national NGOs – are now operating countrywide. This fully complements the incredible work that thousands of Ukrainian volunteers are carrying out in their country.
The UN is actively seeking to ensure that protection and assistance are available in all areas of Ukraine. We remain extremely concerned about the lack of access to Ukrainians living in areas that are currently not under the control of the Government of Ukraine.
Our humanitarian response includes only one million people in these areas, despite the confirmed enormous humanitarian needs.
The Secretary-General has spoken at length about the impact of the war around the world, especially on shortages of food and fertilizer.
As we have stressed before, the effects on countries already severely hit by climate change, drought or instability have been extremely worrying.
Somalia, for example, a country that before February sourced at least 90 per cent of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine, is on the brink of famine.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that there are “concrete indications” that famine will occur later this year in the southern Bay region of the country.
Thousands are dying in a historic drought made worse by the effects of the war in Ukraine.
We are grateful that the Black Sea Initiative continues to enable food exports from Ukraine. Since 1 August, 100 ships have left Ukrainian ports carrying over 2,300,000 metric tons of grain across three continents, including 30 percent to low and lower-middle income countries.
The World Food Programme has thus far chartered three vessels to transport wheat from Ukraine in support of its humanitarian operations.
Thanks in part to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, world food commodity prices are coming down, the FAO reports, though they remain elevated.
But to ensure that food reaches all in need, Russian fertilizers and food products must reach foreign markets. The UN continues its efforts to facilitate access to these products, which are not under international sanctions, to world markets.
Mr. President,
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remains a concern. The Council heard briefings yesterday from the Secretary-General and the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding the dangers of continued military activity at the plant.
As the Secretary-General said yesterday, we welcome the IAEA mission as a first step to de-escalate the situation at Zaporizhzhia.
The IAEA mission report contains recommendations to further de-escalate the situation at the plant, including a proposal to create a Nuclear Safety and Security Protection Zone (NSSPZ) in Zaporizhzhia to ensure the safety of the operating staff and maintain the physical integrity of the plant.
As an immediate step, I reiterate the Secretary-General’s urgent call for a complete cessation of military activity in and around the plant. Demilitarization is the only answer to ensure the safety of this facility.
Mr. President,
The Fact-Finding mission to Olenivka is set to deploy in the coming days to look into the incident on 29 July that led to the death of 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war. Between 75 and 130 more were injured.
The head of the mission, Lieutenant General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, is accompanied by an experienced team of senior officials and experts.
The mission must be able to conduct its work without any interference and have safe, secure and unfettered access to people, places and evidence.
I want to thank Ukraine and Russia for their constructive approach in enabling preparations for the mission. We count on their continued support.
At my last briefing, I stressed that we were concerned by treatment of prisoners of war by both sides.
I want to reiterate that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine must have unimpeded access to all individuals detained in relation to the ongoing war.
This includes access to places of internment of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees in the Russian Federation.
Both sides to the conflict must fully abide by their obligations under international law.
I welcome the parties’ continued engagement to agree on prisoner exchanges. Just last Friday, 14 prisoners were exchanged in the Donetsk region.
Mr. President,
The persistent allegations of forced displacement, deportation and so-called “filtration camps” run by the Russian Federation and affiliated local forces are extremely disturbing.
Such reports must be investigated with the cooperation of the competent authorities. Assistant Secretary-General Brands Kehris will provide more information on this issue.
Mr. President,
We have repeatedly discussed in this Chamber how the war in Ukraine is devastating that country but also endangering regional and global stability.
As you heard from the Secretary-General yesterday, just last week the 10th Review Conference of the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons could not produce a substantive outcome after consensus was blocked because of issues related to the war.
The NPT failure is only the latest example of how the conflict has affected international relations and cooperation. The longer it continues, the greater the risks it poses to international peace and security.
We need peace in Ukraine, peace founded on respect for the UN Charter and international law.
All wars are tragic, but none more than wars of choice.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Briefing the Security Council on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres again underlined the need to de-escalate the situation around the embattled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.
Briefing the Security Council on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres again underlined the need to de-escalate the situation around the embattled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.
As fighting continues in South Sudan, a new UN report released on Tuesday documents 173 civilian deaths over a four-month period along with widespread human rights violations committed without repercussion.
New York, 7 September 2022
In July this year, nations recognized the universal right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
Clean air is now a human right.
A stable climate is a human right.
Healthy nature is a human right.
Today, air pollution is denying...
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported an increase in the levels of mental disorders amongst the population of the Gaza Strip, especially among children, many of whom were already in need of mental health services and psychosocial support.
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Further damage to the embattled Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine “cannot” be allowed to happen, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said.
She Stands For Peace | Season 3-Episode 3 | Out Now! Click here to listen: https://unoau.unmissions.org/podcast-series-she-stands-peace
Police officers from more than 90 countries who serve at UN operations around the world represent “multilateralism in action”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in New York on Thursday.
Dear colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am very pleased to join you for the third United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit.
I would like to start by commending you and your colleagues for continued dedication to protecting the communities you serve, particularly in an environment as challenging as the one we currently face.
Policing has been an integral part of the United Nations peace and security work since the first UN Police was deployed, over six decades ago. Though the role of UN Police has evolved significantly in scope and scale, it remains as vital today as it was then, as a fundamental pillar of our efforts to maintain international peace and security.
An important aspect of this evolution is how UN policing supports the work of our special political missions. These missions are civilian in character but still requested to provide specialized support to national authorities in reforming national security institutions and law enforcement. To deliver on these mandates, we have greatly benefited from the expertise provided by UN Police and from the deployment of police advisers to our missions.
In environments as complex as Libya and Sudan, UN Police is supporting the work of our missions by advancing respect for human rights in national justice, police, and corrections systems. Advice on transitional justice and reconciliation issues is also essential for peace processes and transition roadmaps.
In Somalia, for example, UN police advisers are supporting the implementation of the New Policing Model. They have helped recruit and train hundreds of police officers in several federated states. This is a fundamental part of our mandate to help strengthen federal institutions in the country.
In Libya, UN Police works closely with the Ministry of Interior to develop a community-oriented policing concept, prison management policies and specialized training to police officers.
A crucial aspect of the work of UN Police is to help Member States put in place more gender sensitive law enforcement practices. This work starts with more diverse police forces, with a higher representation of women. We have achieved important progress in this area.
In Haiti, we stepped up efforts to promote women’s representation in the police, including by dedicated outreach to encourage women to apply for law enforcement jobs. As a result, women now account for 11 per cent of the workforce of the Haitian National Police.
In Sudan, our Police Advisors have helped the Police Force establish two gender desks in Central Darfur, an important step to respond to sexual and gender-based violence and promote gender-sensitive policing in the region.
Distinguished colleagues,
The deteriorating global peace and security environment we face today has affected all aspects of our work. Our operating environments are increasingly characterized by high levels of violence, widespread human rights violations, and humanitarian needs that outpace our ability to respond. Most regions of the world are still struggling under the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, while climate change is exacerbating existing fragilities and creating new ones.
This has significantly affected our peacemaking and peacebuilding mandates. It has also had a significant effect for the work of UN Police.
In response to the UN75 Declaration, the Secretary-General presented his report on “Our Common Agenda”. The report offers an ambitious vision for sustainable peace, development, and human rights: a renewed, more inclusive and networked multilateralism at the international level; addressing exclusion and inequalities at the domestic level; more solidarity towards current and future generations; and a United Nations that is fit for a new era.
The Secretary-General also committed to preparing a New Agenda for Peace that puts prevention and violence reduction at the centre of our work. It will offer a robust vision for strengthening the “diplomatic toolbox” contained in Chapter VI of the UN Charter. The aim is to renew the global consensus around cooperation for our collective security.
Delivering on these commitments will be a significant undertaking, particularly in the polarized global environment we face today. It will require all of us to work together, building on our respective strengths. I look forward to your support to this agenda, and to your continuing cooperation with the United Nations and with my Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.
