Meetings Coverage

The Security Council met today for an open debate on women and peace and security. Briefing the Council on the topic of preventing conflict-related sexual violence through demilitarization and gender-responsive arms control were Pramila Patten, Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Niemat Ahmadi, Founder and President of Darfur Women Action Group, and Danai Gurira, UN-Women Goodwill Ambassador.  Representatives of nearly 70 Member States were also expected to speak.

Amidst ongoing paralysis in the Security Council due to the proliferating use — and misuse — of the veto despite escalating global crises, speakers in the General Assembly today called for action to ensure that casting one is not the end of United Nations action when the eyes of the world are looking to the Organization to deliver an effective response.

The first quarter of 2024 was the deadliest for Haitians with around 2,500 people killed or injured in gang violence, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council, calling for the urgent deployment of the Multinational Security Support Mission authorized by the 15-member body in October 2023.

While tensions have simmered in recent months due to an inability to address long-standing issues through dialogue, the senior United Nations official in Kosovo told the Security Council today that the establishment of a community of Serb-majority municipalities could provide a solution to normalization, as speakers also urged Belgrade and Pristina to recommit to European Union-facilitated dialogue.

The Economic and Social Council opened its annual forum on financing for development.

During an era of “profound uncertainty” and as the international rules-based order “is being rigorously tested”, the Head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) told the Security Council today that belief in the multilateral system is at the core of the regional group’s agenda for 2024, as it focuses on resolving conflicts in the region including the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine.

One year after fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group brutally interrupted Sudan’s democratic political transition, the outlook for its people is bleak, as conflict continues to rage, and the risk of famine is imminent, a senior United Nations official today told the Security Council, urging scaled-up action by the parties to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian access.

Urging maximum restraint following recent escalations in the Middle East, the Head of the United Nations urged an end to the deadly cycle of retaliation and called on the international community to work together to avert a full-scale regional conflict, first by ending hostilities in Gaza and ultimately by realizing the two-State solution, as the Security Council today convened its quarterly open debate on the situation in the region.

The Economic and Social Council Youth Forum concluded its annual session today.

The Security Council today blocked Palestine’s bid to become a full member of the United Nations due to a United States veto on a draft resolution that would have recommended the granting of such status.