Mali

Nearly 75,000 refugees and migrants, including an estimated 24,600 children, are stranded in Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary and the Western Balkans, and at risk of psychosocial distress from living in a protracted state of limbo, UNICEF warned today. The situation is particularly acute for single mothers and children.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Elbio Rosselli (Uruguay):

The United Nations human rights office today urged Cambodian authorities to release five human rights defenders who have been in pretrial detention for one year, and whose detention was just extended for an additional six months by the investigating judge.

The International Organization on Migration reports that nearly 9,000 migrants were rescued over the past long weekend by individual NGOs and by the international flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea.  The rescued migrants were mostly Africans, but there was also a large number of people from Bangladesh.

Briefing the Security Council today on Mali, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said that there had been progress in the implementation of the peace agreement, including with the establishment of interim authorities in a number of cities.  However, he noted that there remain delays and that the gains are fragile.

Despite progress since the 2015 signing of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, significant challenges — such as the accelerated activities of terrorists and the transnational networks funding them — continued to require international support, including possible changes to the United Nations operation there, the Organization’s new peacekeeping chief told the Security Council today.

The Secretary-General was in Nairobi today.  He expressed his solidarity with the Kenyan people in dealing with the drought that has hit the country.  He added that he had deep gratitude for Kenya’s commitment to multilateralism and also the Government’s commitment to peacekeeping and peace-enforcing.

Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien travelled to Somalia today to assess the impact of the drought which has left the country on the brink of famine.  He met with humanitarian partners to discuss ways to scale up the response to save lives, and called on all parties to step up efforts to facilitate increased humanitarian access.

United Nations staff in Yemen report that the first humanitarian truck from Ibb since August 2016 arrived in Taizz City today with eight tonnes of medicines and medical equipment, after authorities blocked a visit by United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien to Taizz City on 28 February.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Major General Jean-Paul Deconinck of Belgium as Force Commander of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).