The top UN aid official in Ukraine has condemned Russian attacks in the northeastern city of Sumy on Saturday which damaged a hospital and killed and injured several people....
The coordinated attacks reportedly targeted the Hezbollah militant group, with hundreds of electronic pagers belonging to its members blowing up at the same time, according to international media reports. ‘Extremely concerning escalation’ “The developments today mark an extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context,” Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert...
Addressing the Security Council, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, told ambassadors that UN operations “can only ever be as strong” as the collective support of nations. “As geopolitical tensions have mounted, including here in this Council, and amid shifting global and regional dynamics, peacekeeping operations are increasingly unable to...
135 UNRWA staff members are known to have been killed in Gaza since the escalation of fighting since the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel. That’s the most ever in one incident but, despite the danger and extremely difficult working conditions, UNRWA is continuing to assist those caught up in...
Elizabeth Spehar, UN Assistant-Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, emphasized the importance of civil society. “Civil society organizations are on the frontlines of peacebuilding, all over the world,” she said, adding: “As an unwavering force for peace, they are our strongest allies, from the grassroots to the global stage. We want to...
“Today the stakes for preventive diplomacy and dialogue could not be higher,” said Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific, in a meeting organized by the Brazilian presidency. Referring to the escalating situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, he warned that in the absence...
“I condemn today’s attack by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property in the town of Huwwara in occupied West Bank,” the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, said in a statement. Huwara is located on the main road connecting the northern city of...
“The past six months have caused untold suffering in Sudan” and forced more than 5.4 million people from their homes, said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan. Speaking to journalists in Geneva, the UN official noted that approximately 30,000 a day...
Briefing the Security Council, Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, reiterated the UN Secretary-General’s position that “any annexation of a State’s territory by another State resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the principles of the Charter and international law.” He voiced concern over reports...
“I emphasize the importance of re-establishing communication channels, particularly between military entities,” said Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, briefing ambassadors at the Security Council. “Exercising maximum restraints is critical to avoid unintended escalation. Diplomacy and dialogue – not isolation – is the only...
Denise Brown issued a statement deploring this “new wave of massive Russian attacks”, and appealed for the violence to end. “Grain storage facilities, vital for the Ukrainian farmers and global food security, have been hit in the Danube area,” she said. “A school in the Sumy region was damaged, and teachers were...
Denise Brown issued a statement deploring the “indiscriminate” attacks impacting civilians and civilian infrastructure. She stressed that people in the south, including in the Kherson and Odesa regions, had endured “a particularly harsh weekend” after reports that strikes left many civilians, including children, killed and injured. An entire family, including...