"UN HEADQUARTERS"

Russia and Turkey have said that they will allow “more time” for opposition groups to withdraw from a de-escalation zone in Syria’s Idlib, which has been spared air raids for more than a month, a senior humanitarian adviser to the UN said today. UNTV CH

Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council that “the exploitation of natural resources, or competition over them, can and does lead to violent conflict,” adding that “preventing, managing and resolving such conflicts is one of the major and growing challenges of our time.” UNIFEED

The members of the Security Council reiterated their "full and unanimous" support for the peace process in Colombia and also reiterated their "serious concern" about "continued insecurity, drug trafficking and violence" in some conflict-affected areas, including the "persistent pattern" of assassinations of community and social leaders. UNIFEED

Nadia Murad, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking and Dr. Denis Mukwege, who has treated tens of thousands of women victims of rape and sexual violence at Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, are 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winners. UNIFEED / FILE

A special event entitled "Celebrating Older Human Rights Champions" was held at UN headquarters on the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons (1 October).

The plague outbreak in Madagascar “could spread and reach emergency levels” without early action, the United Nations warned today and said “resources are urgently required to scale-up prevention, including through safe burials and enhancing community engagement.” UNIFEED

Commenting on the decision of the International Court of Justice in the case concerning the obligation on Chile to negotiate Bolivia’s sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean, Bolivian ambassador to the UN Sacha Solíz said, “Bolivia respects the Court’s decision” but also decried “a number of elements within that decision which we have found to be contradictory.” UNIFEED

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif said the United States would “never get a better deal” than the Iran nuclear deal expressing his conviction as a “multilateralist” that when “you go to win it all, you make yourself vulnerable to losing it all.” UNIFEED

The UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) today (2 Oct) expressed concern at the level of violence in the country, as the campaigning period moves forward ahead of the 20 October parliamentary elections. UNIFEED

After the closing of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly General Debate, GA President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés said multilateralism and national interest "can be combined" and that during the General Debate "both voices" were heard. UNIFEED