The Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States, Kofi Annan, today urged the Syrian Government and opposition forces to stop the violence, stressing that all hostilities must end by Thursday morning. Last week, the Syrian Government told Mr. Annan that it would complete the withdrawal of troops by 10 April. The Envoy has stated that, once that happens, all parties should move immediately to cease all forms of violence, so that a complete cessation is in place by 06:00 Damascus time on 12 April.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the latest escalation of violence in Syria despite the Government's commitments to withdraw troops by tomorrow’s deadline, April 10, and called on authorities to immediately cease all military action against the Syrian people. "The Secretary-General strongly deplores today’s fatal cross-border shootings from Syria into Turkey, as well as into Lebanon,” his spokesperson said in a statement.
United Nations top officials today stressed the importance of providing adequate health services to older citizens and called on countries to commit resources to help their aging populations lead a healthy and active life.According to WHO, in the middle of the last century there were 14 million people in the world aged 80 years or older.
Kofi Annan, the joint special envoy of the UN and the Arab League, is to brief the UN General Assembly (GA) via video link on Thursday on the latest developments in Syria, said the spokesperson for the GA president on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a UN planning team led by Norwegian Major-General Robert Mood will head to Damascus shortly, to discuss the eventual deployment of a UN supervision and monitoring mission, the UN announced Wednesday at its Geneva Office.
This morning, the Joint Special Envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, briefed the Security Council in closed session by video-conference from Geneva on the latest developments concerning Syria. Mr. Annan has asked the Security Council for support in implementing an April 10 deadline for Syria to partially implement his peace plan, with a full ceasefire within 48 hours thereafter.
On Monday the UN-Arab League Special Envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan will brief Council members in consultations by videoconference on his mediation efforts. Council members are likely to be interested in Annan’s recent visits to Moscow and Beijing and his plans to visit Tehran and Riyadh in the near future, according to Security Council Report.
Syria's president embraced Kofi Annan's peacemaking effort today, saying his government will "put every effort to ensure the success of the mission."Assad gave the assurance in a letter to the BRICS summit, the meeting in New Delhi of the world's top emerging economies, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency.
A future on Earth of more extreme weather and rising seas will require better planning for natural disasters to save lives and limit deepening economic losses, the United Nations said on Wednesday in a major report on the effects of climate change. The U.N. climate panel said all nations will be vulnerable to the expected increase in heat waves, more intense rains and floods and a probable rise in the intensity of droughts.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today outlined five areas that deserve greater attention as the world community strives to ensure nuclear security, from curbing terrorism financing to stricter control over fissile materials. He set out five areas for collective action: bold steps to bridge the trust gap; emergency response, disaster risk reduction and resilience building; boosting the UN’s role; a stronger partnership with the nuclear industry and civil society; and progress on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.