United Nations Secretary General António Guterres addressed the UN Security Council during the body’s first meeting on the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday, and urged members to understand the shocks that exacerbate conflict as well as the public health crisis impacts. “The world faces its gravest test since the founding of…
Last year was the worst on record for children trapped in regions where armed conflict rages, and it saw the highest numbers of children killed or maimed since the United Nations began keeping records on them, the UN said in a new report. The Annual Report of the Secretary-General on…
Libya is on the edge of a long and bloody civil war that could permanently divide the nation, the United Nations special representative to Libya said during a briefing to the United Nations Security Council Tuesday. Ghassan Salamé, who also serves as head of UNSMIL, the UN mission in Libya,…
Ambassadors of the United Nations Security Council are in West Africa, visiting in Côte d’Ivoire before paying a critical visit to Guinea-Bissau ahead of the nation’s delayed elections. They’re expected to meet with President José Mário Vaz, Prime Minister Aristides Gomes, political party leaders and the country’s electoral commission, among…
A new report presented to the United Nations Security Council on Monday details the threat that Islamic State continues to present to the African continent, from Libya and Somalia across the Sahel and into West Africa. These fighters – whether in small clusters of a few dozen in the mountains…
The United Nations chief says he’s backing Nicholas Haysom, the top UN diplomat in Somalia who was told by its government that he could no longer work in his role in the country. Nonetheless, the UN will be appointing a new special representative to serve as head of UNSOM. The…
Climate change is “inextricably linked to some of the most pressing security challenges of our time,” said Nigerian Amina Mohammed, the United Nations deputy secretary-general, during remarks made to the UN Security Council on Wednesday. During the last 18 months, the Security Council has recognized the adverse effects of climate…
A revised death toll now stands at three people killed, one a civilian, following the car bomb attack Friday on the G5 Sahel Force headquarters in Mali. The al Qaeda-affiliated militant group JNIM (Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims) has claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack in Sévaré, in a…
The commanders from three United Nations peacekeeping missions in Africa briefed the UN Security Council on Wednesday on the evolving security challenges they face in their respective roles. Jean‑Paul Deconinck, commander for United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), was joined by Frank Mushyo Kamanzi, the commander of United…
Confirmation of the deaths of six Red Cross volunteers in Central African Republic (CAR) last week comes with a warning about how dangerous CAR is becoming for humanitarian aid workers. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRC) said the six local volunteers were attending a crisis meeting at…
Government leaders in Somalia agreed to form a National Security Council during two days of meetings in Mogadishu that were completed on Monday. President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, who met for the first time since his February election with the heads of Somalia’s federal government alongside regional member states including Puntland…