Peacekeeping

A report released over the weekend by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shows that methamphetamine trafficking in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries is surging.

With students around the world returning to school, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization published its first global Guidance on Generative AI in Education and Research, calling on Governments to implement regulations and teacher training towards a human-centred approach.

While peacekeeping is not a panacea for converging crises, it does support political processes and protect civilians, the United Nations senior peace operations official told the Security Council today, as members considered the factors necessary for the success of such operations amidst the drawdown of the UN’s presence in Mali and the questioning of its utility in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In Liberia, the United Nations team there is boosting its response to national efforts to address food insecurity. This follows a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) showing that over half a million people are currently facing acute food insecurity in the country.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) until 31 August 2024, as speakers debated the matter of the Force being allowed access to some areas around the Blue Line.

The Security Council today failed to renew the travel ban and asset freeze imposed through resolution 2374 (2017) against individuals and entities obstructing implementation of the 2015 Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, unable to reach consensus on either of two resolutions that would have kept such measures in place amidst the drawdown of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

Closing a mission built over a decade within a period of six months is “a complex and ambitious endeavour”, especially amid a host of other constraints linked to security, logistics, geography and infrastructure, the top UN official in Mali told the Security Council today.

In Pakistan, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today warned that, one year after the historic floods that devastated the country, millions of children continue to need humanitarian assistance and access to essential services.

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

In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, an elementary school was demolished days before the start of the new school year. It served pupils from the few Palestinian families remaining in the herding community of Ein Samiya, following the displacement of most amid settler violence and diminishing grazing land.