UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to investigate deadly armed group attacks in Djugu Territory, Ituri Province, on Sunday.
Secretary-General António Guterres said on Sunday that he was appalled by an attack on a school in Bilohorivka, eastern Ukraine, where many people were sheltering from the ongoing fighting.
Chisinau in spring – the chestnut trees are in bloom, music pours from sidewalk cafés, and young people are everywhere. Although it seems peaceful in the capital of Moldova, if you listen, you can hear everyone speaking about the war, discussing the latest news from Ukraine and exchanging alarming prognoses.
Chisinau in spring – the chestnut trees are in bloom, music pours from sidewalk cafés, and young people are everywhere. Although it seems peaceful in the capital of Moldova, if you listen, you can hear everyone speaking about the war, discussing the latest news from Ukraine and exchanging alarming prognoses.
A newly published United Nations report highlights the urgency of adopting a more strategic approach to address the economic and fiscal crisis faced by the Palestinian Authority and Government. It urges a coordinated and integrated response to resolve this precarious situation.
The report, issued by the office of...
This Week in DPPA is a brief roundup of political and peacebuilding events and developments at UNHQ and around the world.
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Excellencies,
It is a pleasure to join you today.
As the Secretary-General underscored in his briefing to the Peacebuilding Commission in March, peace is the most important task we have at the United Nations. And this is a task that is becoming greater and more complicated.
Today, we are facing a series of overlapping threats that have far-reaching implications for the global collective security architecture, and that affect the ability of the UN to carry out its work.
These threats are manifest at various levels and in different realms.
At the geopolitical level, conflicts have become more fragmented, regionalized and thus harder to resolve. They increasingly test the effectiveness of many of our traditional conflict management and resolution tools.
Climate change is exacerbating risks and creating additional sources of stress – particularly in the most fragile settings.
This is not a future challenge, but a present one. We are seeing, for example, the increasing frequency and intensity of violent conflicts between farmers and herders across many countries in Central and West Africa, which have significant consequences for stability.
Technological disruption is shaping conflict across the world. Conflict is increasingly hybrid, fought in the battlefield as well as online through cyber operations that create potential for miscalculation, and which often target infrastructure that is critical for civilians.
Increasing use of sophisticated new weapons challenge existing legal frameworks – and may create risks of unprecedented escalation.
Disinformation and hate speech are widespread, crossing from online realms to offline action, engendering polarization and violence.
A perceived failure of governance – of the ability of States to deliver essential services that respond to the aspirations of their people – is giving rise to tensions and social unrest in many regions.
Exclusion and inequalities of all kinds — economic, social and cultural — exact a devastating toll on security.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many of these risks, while at the same time putting significant pressure on the ability of States to deliver. The pandemic also showed the real limitations of global preparedness and solidarity – all of which are essential to our work in prevention.
These phenomena, on their own but particularly in combination, have dire consequences for the most vulnerable communities.
Women and girls, especially, have already been disproportionately affected by the deteriorating security and socio-economic environment – including with the unprecedented spike in domestic and gender-based violence during the pandemic.
The confluence of these factors also makes our work to prevent and resolve conflicts much more difficult, particularly at a time when there is growing skepticism about multilateralism. And just when there is more need for collective solutions.
This is why the Secretary-General has emphasized the importance of conflict prevention and peacebuilding in “Our Common Agenda”. We must get better at addressing these challenges before conflicts breakout.
Recent events only confirm the urgency of our collective task.
The war in Ukraine is having a global impact – what the Secretary-General refers to as a triple crisis, as food security, energy and finance are affected by the ongoing conflict.
In these times, the contributions the Peacebuilding Commission makes to advance our efforts to avert conflict and build lasting peace are invaluable. Even more important will be considering how the Commission can be even more effective, a question I know is of utmost importance for you, too.
A decade ago, I sat where you are as a member of the PBC. The Commission was still deciding its agenda and profile.
Since that time, the PBC has grown into a most valuable body for fostering consensus and action on key areas that are essential for sustaining peace.
The ambitious programme of work for 2022 you adopted in March highlights several priorities that, when implemented, will further reinforce the Commission’s central role.
We strongly support the Commission’s decision to expand its geographic and thematic scope as well as the continued emphasis on inclusive approaches in support of national peacebuilding initiatives. We cannot achieve lasting impact without engaging and empowering women and youth.
Helping countries build more inclusive societies, based on trust, social cohesion, and human rights, requires a coherent approach.
And the Commission’s convening role has been instrumental in bringing the UN system together.
Further the Commission’s efforts to build stronger partnerships with regional and sub-regional organizations, civil society organizations and the private sector have been vital.
I remember the first time the PBC briefed the Security Council. And I can tell you that not all Council members were enthusiastic about letting you into the club.
Since that time the Commission’s advisory role has expanded considerably and your contribution to Council deliberations has become essential.
Excellencies
Let me conclude by noting that at last week’s General Assembly High-level meeting on peacebuilding financing, we heard, loud and clear, that Member States are convinced of the need to invest more in peacebuilding and prevention work.
Member States agree that it is cost-effective but underfunded. We heard appreciation for the work of this Commission and testimonies regarding the critical role of the Peacebuilding Fund as a flexible and agile tool to support national peacebuilding priorities.
More needs to be done to secure increased resources for the Peacebuilding Fund, including through assessed contributions.
I really want to thank the Commission for its valuable input to the General Assembly in advance of the High-level meeting and for continuing to prioritize financing as a key requirement for effective peacebuilding initiatives.
I hope that this retreat has provided you with the space and opportunity to build on the excellent 2022 programme of work.
We are all invested in helping realize the full potential of the PBC as an indispensable tool of the UN peace and security architecture.
I congratulate you for what you have accomplished and look forward to your continued support and to backing your good work to build peace.
Thank you.
The UN chief welcomed on Friday afternoon, the unity of the Security Council in support of peace in Ukraine, while also assuring that he would continue to “spare no effort” in saving lives, reducing suffering and finding the path of peace.
Ports in the Odesa area of southern Ukraine must be re-opened urgently to prevent the global hunger crisis from spinning out of control, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
Already reeling from COVID-19, the fighting in Ukraine has introduced significant and worrying new risks likely to heavily impact Africa, UN development experts warned on Friday.
Ten weeks into the war in Ukraine, UN humanitarians on Friday said that they were urgently ramping up efforts to provide vulnerable children with specialist and psychosocial support, amid “tremendous” mental health needs and ongoing dangers linked to the Russian invasion and sexual and gender-based violence.
Briefing the Security Council on his shuttle diplomacy last week in Russia and Ukraine, Secretary-General António Guterres declared that he “did not mince words” during meetings with Presidents Putin and Zelenskyy, on the need to end the brutal conflict.
The UN’s leading expert on issues facing children caught up in war, on Thursday released a new analysis on the importance of considering how gender differences impact young people during armed conflicts.
The number of people facing acute food insecurity, requiring urgent life-saving food assistance and livelihood support, continues to grow at an alarming rate, according to a joint UN report released on Wednesday.
The “enormous challenges” faced by the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, which include a continuing terrorist insurgency, need to be recognized by the international community to create what the UN Secretary-General has called a “state of hope and a state of reality”, in a region which he said did not live up to its reputation for “terrorism, violence, displacement or despair.”
Rows of temporary shelters covered in sheeting which has been blanched by the sun and sand blasted by winds blend into the grey, dusty and parched environment. It’s midday, and temperatures have reached a punishingly hot and dry 44 degrees Celsius (111 F).
Women’s rights do not end when wars begin, a senior UN official said in Ukraine on Tuesday, outlining measures towards ensuring justice and accountability for sexual violence committed during the conflict in the country.
Clashes in Haiti between rival gangs in the capital, Port-au-Prince, have forced hundreds of people to flee their homes, the UN Deputy Spokesperson said on Tuesday.
In Ukraine on Tuesday, UN humanitarians began to help the first evacuees arriving from Mariupol’s devastated Azovstal steel works, more than two months since Russia’s invasion began, and said that they would do everything possible to assist those still trapped.
New York, 3 May 2022
On World Press Freedom Day, we shine a spotlight on the essential work of journalists and other media workers who seek transparency and accountability from those in power, often at great personal risk.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, many media workers have been on the...
The number of terrorist attacks in the Sahel region of Africa “continues to increase” according to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who arrived in the capital of Niger, Niamey, on Monday, the second of three countries he is visiting on a tour of West Africa to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The war in Ukraine is aggravating a “triple food, energy and financial crisis,” across Africa, according to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
A United Nations and Red Cross (ICRC) operation to evacuate desperate civilians trapped in the Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol is underway, the Spokesperson for the humanitarian affairs office in the country confirmed on Sunday.
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The United Nations has condemned a deadly explosion at a Sufi mosque in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, on Friday, which reportedly killed at least 10 people and injured up to 15 more, many of them seriously.
Commemorating the 25th anniversary of the historic Chemical Weapons Convention on Friday, the UN chief described the treaty as “a major achievement” in disarmament.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and UN Resident Coordinator for Lebanon Najat Rochdi signed today the “United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation...
Recent intercommunal violence in areas of West Darfur, Sudan, that has left scores dead, including two health workers, must stop immediately, a senior official with the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
Describing Ukraine as “an epicenter of unbearable heartache and pain”, the UN chief took to the podium alongside its president in Kyiv on Thursday, vowing to increase support for the people amidst the suffering, and the millions displaced in the wake of Russia’s invasion.
New York, 29 April 2022
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction.
The Chemical Weapons Convention has been a major achievement in the history of disarmament and a powerful testament of the security benefits that multilateral instruments...
UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited sites of suspected war crimes in Ukraine on Thursday, where he condemned the “evil” acts committed against civilians and urged criminal accountability.
Keeping the peace has become more important but also more complex in a world of proliferating conflicts, that are becoming more “intertwined”, the UN’s policy chief told a high-level meeting of the General Assembly spotlighting financing for peacebuilding on Wednesday.
