Security Council, Middle East & other topics …

In Vienna today, the Secretary-General opened a meeting of the heads of the UN System organizations, known as the Chief Executives Board (CEB). 

This morning, the Security Council voted to extend the mandate of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei until November 2022.

In a statement yesterday afternoon, we said that the Secretary-General was appalled by the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American reporter for Al Jazeera TV, who was shot dead while covering an operation by Israeli security forces in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.  

The Peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic has launched a joint operation with the country’s Armed Forces in Bambari in the Ouaka prefecture. 

The last of the major fugitives indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Protais Mpiranya, has been confirmed to have died.

The UN relief chief, Martin Griffiths, is in Kenya, where he visited the county of Turkana and saw the devastating impact of a fourth consecutive failed rainy season affecting the entire Horn of Africa.

Humanitarians say that, in northern Ethiopia, aid delivery by road into the Tigray region remains far below what is required to meet people’s needs.
 
The Secretary-General is appointing Ingeborg Ulrika Ulfsdotter Richardson of Sweden as his new Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, known as BINUH, and Resident Coordinator in Haiti.  Ms. Richardson will also serve as Humanitarian Coordinator.
 
The UN team in Indonesia, led by Resident Coordinator Valerie Julliand, continues to help authorities to tackle and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, UNICEF has facilitated the arrival of nearly 104 million vaccine doses through COVAX, with the UN team supporting the national vaccination efforts. 

The UN Convention to Combat Desertification has published a report calling for global commitment to drought preparedness and resilience. The report – titled Drought in Numbers - also contains figures which highlight the importance of investing in land restoration. 

Today is the International Day of Plant Health. This Day seeks to raise global awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect biodiversity and the environment, and boost economic development.