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Briefing by Spokesperson for Secretary-General
The Secretary-General will depart New York on Thursday, 24 November for Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.
The Secretary-General spoke this morning at the Security Council’s open meeting on water, peace and security.
While the intensive talks on Cyprus in Mont Pèlerin, Switzerland did not achieve the desired outcome, the Secretary-General is confident that the two leaders will rise above the current challenges in this process.
Today, an inter-agency UN-Red Cross-Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy deployed to the hard-to-reach area of Rastan in northern rural Homs to deliver food, water and other supplies to 107,500 people in Rastan and nearby villages.
Over one month into Mosul military operations, more than 68,000 Iraqis are currently displaced from Mosul and adjacent districts, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
In a statement issued yesterday evening, the Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya, Ghassan Khalil, said the UN is concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Ganfouda area of Benghazi due to the increased hostilities in the past week. He stressed that civilians must be allowed to leave the insecurity in safety and dignity without delay.
The UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) has called for the end of clashes that started yesterday in Bria between two armed groups. Some 5,000 displaced civilians as well as local authorities and humanitarian organisations have taken refuge in MINUSCA's premises. The UN mission stresses that the armed groups will be held accountable for the violence, in particular against civilian populations.
The United Nations Country Team and the UN Mission in Colombia are concerned about violent actions, including recent killings, targeting social leaders in several conflict-affected areas. The UN team understands the fears voiced by affected social organizations and their call for urgent action to prevent the escalation of violence, which undermines confidence in a stable and lasting peace, ahead of the expected signing of the Final Agreement between the Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP).
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said today that they are concerned that two weeks after their detention, two Gambian journalists continue to be held incommunicado, with no access to family members or lawyers. Momodou Sabally, the head of the Gambia Radio and Television Services and Bakary Fatty, a reporter for the same organisation, have been arbitrarily detained by the National Intelligence Agency in Banjul since 8 November with no charges laid against them. A number of other people also remain in incommunicado detention.
The Secretary-General today announced the appointment of Lieutenant General Carlos Humberto Loitey of Uruguay as the Military Adviser for Peacekeeping Operations.
