International News
Collective responses to counter-terrorism and organized crime are needed now more than ever before, as the COVID-19 pandemic poses new challenges to vulnerable States, United Nations officials told the Security Council in a videoconference meeting on 6 August.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Dian Triansyah Djani (Indonesia):
On 5 August 2020, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2127 (2013) concerning the Central African Republic approved the following individual to be added to its list of individuals and entities:
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called on Guatemalan authorities to fully investigate the violent death of a transgender woman found dead at her home on Saturday in Guatemala City. She had sought asylum in Guatemala after fleeing violence in El Salvador due to her gender identity.
On 3 August 2020, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 751 (1992) concerning Somalia adopted an Implementation Assistance Notice: “Summary of the improvised explosive device (IED) components ban and regulations in place for exportation of explosive materials to Somalia.”
The Security Council will focus several August meetings on key threats to its sustaining peace agenda, including transnational organized crime and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, its President for the month told reporters during a video press briefing today.
In Zimbabwe, where 60 per cent of the population is projected to be food insecure by the end of 2020, the World Food Programme appealed for $250 million to prevent a human catastrophe. A nationwide COVID-19 lockdown has led to joblessness in urban areas, growing hunger in rural areas and hyperinflation that has made basic goods unaffordable.
The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the third report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Iraq (document S/2019/984), agreed to convey the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group:
The closure of the Bab al-Salam border crossing is making it harder for humanitarians to access certain areas of Syria, an aid worker told the Security Council during a 29 July videoconference meeting, while the representative of a permanent Council member argued that it is possible to handle increased deliveries through a single crossing that remains open.
The Security Council today decided to extend its sanctions regime against the Central African Republic for one year, including an arms and ammunition embargo with some exemptions, while also renewing the mandate of its related Panel of Experts for 13 months.