Nuclear Weapons, Ukraine, Mali & other topics…

The Secretary-General spoke today at an event marking the International Day for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.   

In a note we issued earlier this morning, the Secretariat of the UN expressed its grave concern about the continued detention since 10 July of Ivorian soldiers in Bamako in Mali.  

Also on Mali, we can add that the UN peacekeeping mission, MINUSMA, conducted the first joint long-range patrol outside of Ménaka with the Malian Armed Forces.  

Turning to Ukraine, the Humanitarian Coordinator, Denise Brown, was in Kharkiv today. 

In the Philippines, Tropical Cyclone Noru intensified over the weekend and became a super typhoon. It made landfall yesterday in Quezon Province, east of the capital Manila.  

This afternoon, at 3:00 p.m., the Security Council will hold a meeting on Haiti. 

Geir Pedersen, the Special Envoy for Syria, said yesterday that it is devastating that dozens died after a boat sank off the Syrian coast - men, women, children and the elderly among the victims. 
   
Our UN team on the ground in Cuba, led by the Resident Coordinator Consuelo Vidal-Bruce, took part in the consultation process to make reforms to the country’s Family Code.  
 
And in Venezuela, our UN team, led by Resident Coordinator Gianluca Rampolla del Tindaro, on Friday signed in Caracas a new Cooperation Framework with the Government – that’s a roadmap to guide our work with partners to advance the Sustainable Development Goals in the next four years.