2 February 2014 – While confirming today’s delivery of more than 700 food parcels to the desperate, malnourished civilians stranded in a hard-hit area outside the Syrian capital of Damascus, the United Nations agency tasked with protecting Palestinian refugees throughout the Middle East, reiterated its call for long-term access to meet the enormous needs, as Syria’s three-year civil war grinds on. “Today, UNRWA distributed 715 food parcels in Yarmouk, the Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, bringing to 3,709 the number of parcels distributed since we gained access to the camp on 18 January, said Chris Gunness, Spokesman for the UN…
Author: UN News
1 February 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council have strongly condemned the “heinous” terrorist attack that took place today in Hermel, Lebanon, a town near the country’s northern border, which killed at least four people and wounded dozens of others. “The members of the Security Council underline the need to bring the perpetrators to justice,” the 15-member body said in a press statement issued in New York shortly after the incident, which, according to news reports, was a suicide bomb attack carried out a gas station in the town, which is near Lebanon’s northern border…
31 January 2014 – Voicing deep concern about the growing threats and attacks on members of the media in Egypt, the United Nations human rights office today urged the authorities to investigate reports of violence against them and to promptly release all journalists imprisoned for carrying out their legitimate activities. “We are extremely concerned about the increasingly severe clampdown and physical attacks on media in Egypt, which is hampering their ability to operate freely,” Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told reporters in Geneva. “In recent months, there have been numerous reports…
31 January 2014 – Syrian Government and opposition delegates today wrapped up what United Nations officials hope will be just the first stage of talks to end the country’s civil war, with the chief mediator reporting no breakthrough to stop the “unspeakable suffering” of the Syrian people, including access for humanitarian aid. “We haven’t made any progress, to speak of,” UN-Arab League Joint Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi told a news conference in Geneva, site of the eight days of talks, noting that the opposition has agreed to return for a further session on 10 February but that the Government delegation…
31 January 2014 – A senior United Nations relief official today called for a halt to the displacement of Palestinians in the Jordan Valley, after 66 people, including 36 children, were uprooted in the latest round of Israeli demolitions in the area. The call by James W. Rawley, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, comes after Israel demolished 36 Palestinian-owned structures in the community of Ein al Hilwe yesterday. “I am deeply concerned about the ongoing displacement and dispossession of Palestinians in Area C, particularly along the Jordan Valley where the number of structures demolished more than…
1 February 2014 – Amid a global landscape filled with both volatility and opportunity, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today encouraged leaders attending an annual security conference in Germany to work together – and with the United Nations –“to build the world of security that people deserve and that is within our power to deliver.” In a wide-ranging address to the 50th annual Munich Security Conference, the Secretary-General described the current state of international affairs as grappling with profound demographic, social and environmental change – and enormous shifts in political and commercial power. Moreover, while many countries have achieved stability and progress,…
31 January 2014 – The United Nations human rights office today welcomed the start of dialogue between President Viktor Yanukovych and the opposition in Ukraine following weeks of violent unrest, as well as the abolition this week of laws restricting the exercise of fundamental rights. “We call for this dialogue to be sustainable, inclusive and grounded on the full respect of international human rights treaties ratified by Ukraine,” the spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Rupert Colville, told a news conference in Geneva. The Ukrainian capital, Kiev, has been witnessing mass protests since late…
31 January 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for the observance of the Olympic Truce, calling on everyone engaged in armed hostilities to lay down their weapons and cease hostilities. “The participants in the Sochi Games may carry the flags of many nations, but they come together under the shared banner of equality, fair play, mutual respect and non-discrimination,” Mr. Ban said in his message. “I encourage all those involved in the games – Governments, groups, organizations and individuals – to uphold and defend these core Olympic ideals,” he added. The symbolic Truce starts one week before the XXII…
30 January 2014 – The United Nations must use science and technology to strengthen its policy-making on sustainable development, reducing inequality and eradicating extreme poverty, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said launching his advisory board of scientists. “For too long we have sought to burn and consume our way to prosperity. That model is unsustainable,” Mr. Ban said in remarks at the inaugural meeting of the Scientific Advisory Board in Berlin. Composed of 26 eminent scientists in varied natural, social and human disciplines, the Board is meant to strengthen ties between the UN and the global scientific community so that science…
30 January 2014 – The Security Council today extended the long-running United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) until 31 July 2014, noting that progress made so far had not yet resulted in a comprehensive and durable settlement between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides. Unanimously adopting a new resolution, the Council urged the two sides to implement confidence-building measures, saying it looked forward to agreement on and implementation of further steps, including military confidence-building measures and the opening of other crossing points on the Green Line. The force has been deployed on the island since 1964, when inter-communal…