"BAN KI-MOON"

Briefing by Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the UN Cho Huy, Under-Secretary-General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance Catherine Pollard, and Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support Atul Khare, on the 2021 Seoul UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting to be held from the 7th to the 8th of December.

In times of global crises, collaboration between regional organizations, United Nations has ‘grown exponentially’, Secretary-General tells Security Council.

Speaking during a Security Council meeting on cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organizations, Secretary-General António Guterres called for leaders in Asia to bolster efforts towards finding a peaceful solution to the urgent crisis in Myanmar, sparked by the military coup in February. UNIFEED

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has today been awarded the Seoul Peace Prize in recognition of the work he has done to help promoting peace through sport. IOC

Amid COVID-19 pandemic, coordinated, conflict-sensitive responses are crucial to sustaining peace, Secretary-General tells Security Council.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council that member states’ commitment to sustaining peace “is more urgent than ever,” as the COVID-19 pandemic “threatens not only hard-won development and peacebuilding gains, but also risks exacerbating conflicts or fomenting new ones.” UNIFEED

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, told the Security Council that “peace will not be fully achieved if the brave voices of social leaders continue to be silenced through violence and if former combatants who laid down their weapons and are committed to their reintegration continue to be killed.” UNIFEED

The Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, said that the United States’ official notification of its withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement “had been announced, and therefore was expected.” Dujarric said, the Organization’s “determination to move forward on the implementation of the Paris Agreement remains unchanged.” UNIFEED / FILE

Addressing the annual gathering of world leaders at United Nations Headquarters, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned of the looming risk of “a Great Fracture: the world splitting in two, with the two largest economies on earth creating two separate and competing worlds, each with their own dominant currency, trade and financial rules, their own internet and artificial intelligence capacities, and their own zero sum geopolitical and military strategies.” UNIFEED

World leaders arrived at United Nations Headquarters in New York to take part in the 74th Session of the annual General Assembly’s General Debate. UNIFEED