Ukraine: Humanitarian crisis worsens amid winter freeze, daily attacks
Lisa Doughten, Director of Financing and Partnerships at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) highlighted the unrelenting toll on civilians. “Daily attacks continue, inflicting death, injury and untold suffering on ordinary Ukrainians, and destruction and damage…
UN envoy calls for increased aid for Syria in Damascus visit
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, arrived there a week after President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by rebel forces led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTC). Responding to questions from the press upon his arrival, Mr….
UN Special Envoy continues shuttle diplomacy on Syria
Geir Pedersen is due to confer with Arab foreign ministers, the Foreign Minister of Türkiye, US Secretary of State and other senior officials who will be present at a meeting in Aqaba, said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, briefing reporters in…
Climate shocks, humanitarian crises and political division plague Central Africa
Abdou Abarry, UN Special Representative for Central Africa, told ambassadors in the Security Council that disasters and extreme weather events displaced more than three million people in the region this year alone. This has worsened an already fragile socio-economic situation…
Gaza: ‘Sickening normalisation’ of suffering, amid attacks on people and aid convoys
According to local media reports, 30 Palestinians were killed in the central Gaza area overnight on Friday due to airstrikes, said Louise Wateridge, Senior Emergencies Officer with UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA, speaking to reporters in Geneva from central Gaza. …
UN rights chief urges accountability for post-electoral violence in Venezuela
Hundreds more were reportedly injured in clashes following the disputed elections and around 2,000 arrested, including teenagers, young adults, opposition members, human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers, as well as bystanders. Since then, the Government has announced the conditional release…
The de facto authority in Syria is a designated terrorist group: What happens now?
However, according to a core Security Council resolution on Syria adopted at the height of the civil conflict, HTS is regarded as a terrorist group. Resolution 2254, which was adopted unanimously by the Council in 2015, calls on Member States…
Gaza: ‘Devastation is absolutely staggering’, says senior WFP official
Speaking from Gaza, Jonathan Dumont said many people have been displaced multiple times, and that families are living either in tents or in the rubble of collapsed buildings, with no access to electricity or running water. The text has been…
Taliban’s pursuit of ‘Islamic vision’ eroding freedoms in Afghanistan: Security Council
Briefing ambassadors in the Security Council, Roza Otunbayeva, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, painted a grim picture of escalating human rights abuses, diminishing freedoms and growing humanitarian challenges. “It is now approaching nearly 1,200 days without girls…
Guterres upholds UN commitment to a smooth and inclusive transition in Syria
Mr. Guterres was speaking on Wednesday to reporters in Pretoria, South Africa, where he met with Government officials in connection with the country’s presidency of the G20 group of industrial nations. ‘Signs of hope’ “As we speak, we are witnessing…