"PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS"

In observance of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, Secretary-General António Guterres laid a wreath to pay tribute to all the UN blue helmets who have lost their lives since 1948. UNIFEED

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) commemorated the International Day of Peacekeepers in a ceremony in the capital Juba. UNMISS

Briefing by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo, a Brazilian Naval officer working in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) has been selected to receive the 2019 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award, together with an Indian peacekeeper who has recently completed her assignment in South Sudan. MINUSCA

Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab led today a high-level delegation in a visit to UNIFIL Headquarters where he was briefed on the Mission’s work and continued cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces in the implementation of the UNIFIL’s mandate. UNIFIL

COVID-19, severe locust outbreaks compound economic, security woes in Somalia ahead of long-awaited elections, experts tells Security Council.

UN Special Representative for Somalia James Swan said the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are “acute” as the country also faces “its worst desert locust infestation in some 25 years.” UNIFEED

Addressing a virtual meeting of the Africa Dialogue Series (ADS), Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, the COVID-19 pandemic “is affecting capacity to support peace and security efforts in Africa,” and stressed that “failure to respond quickly and adequately could jeopardize progress towards Silencing the Guns by 2020 and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and Africa’s Agenda 2063.” UNIFEED

At the virtual launch of a UN briefing paper focusing on the impact of COVID-19 across Africa, Secretary-General António Guterres said the coronavirus pandemic threatens the hard-earned gains Africans have made throughout the continent. He urged the world to stand in solidarity with the people, “now, and for recovering better." UNIFEED

Briefing by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.