Africa

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the third session of the Permanent Forum of People of African Descent, in Geneva today:

Lomé is set to host a pivotal gathering of West and Central African countries to review progress made and to set priorities for tackling illicit small arms and light weapons. The Regional Preparatory Meeting for the Fourth Review Conference on the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (UN PoA) and its International Tracing Instrument is set to take place from 29 February to 1 March.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released a report today on how attacks on Red Sea shipping are reshaping global trade routes. Higher fuel consumption from rerouted trade could result in a 70 per cent rise in greenhouse-gas emissions for these trips, and shipping costs have skyrocketed.

The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is strengthening its presence near the borders with Sudan, and peacekeepers are intensifying their patrols in Abiemnom County in Ruweng State and in Mayom County. A priority is to enhance security along the main supply route, which is vital for the transport of humanitarian aid.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks on the occasion of the Italy-Africa Summit, in Rome today:

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that attacks have continued in the country today, while since yesterday morning, humanitarian organizations have been providing emergency assistance to civilians affected by the latest attacks in the Kharkiv and Dnipro regions.

Amid growing fears of widespread insecurity in West Africa and the Sahel, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today of the need to reconfigure the region’s security coordination mechanism, including the possible deployment of an African Union standby team.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The Security Council unanimously agreed today to consider, on a case-by-case basis, requests from the African Union Peace and Security Council seeking for authorization to access United Nations assessed contributions for African-led peace support operations.