Weekly News Update January 4-8, 2021
Tunisia, Security Council President on the program of work in January 2021
Press conference by Ambassador Tarek Ladeb, Permanent Representative of #Tunisia to the United Nations and President of the Security Council in January 2021 on the Security Council programme of work this month.
Statement by the President of the General Assembly on the lack of agreement on the UN’s 2021 budget
"l would like to express my concern and disappointment that the United Nations’ budget and plan for 2021 have still not been adopted. We are facing an unprecedented situation, in which we are still continuing discussions that have traditionally been finalised before Christmas. This year, consensus is more urgent than ever. The world has yet to fully address the health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated socio-economic consequences. The world is therefore looking to the United Nations, including the General Assembly, for leadership and demonstrable action to address these pressing challenges in the real world. The General Assembly has a responsibility to meet the world’s expectations and support multilateralism and pandemic recovery, in a manner that accelerates the implementation of the 2030 Agenda during this Decade of Action. My office and I, with the Chair of the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee, Ambassador Carlos Amorin, held extensive consultations with Member States and encouraged them to make every effort to overcome disagreements or disputes and strive for consensus in order to reach a conclusion. Even though these are the last two days of 2020, we are still unable to achieve a final decision. If Member States fail to reach an agreement, the consequences on the work of the United Nations will be dire. For example: 1) All personnel, including in Special Political Missions, will be asked to stand down from any activity except the minimum needed to ensure the safety of our personnel and assets. All travel will be suspended. This will affect the United Nations’ ability to prepare and hold conferences and events, especially during the first quarter of the year. 2) All mandated activity, including support for political processes under way, will be disrupted, increasing the risk of instability. The Missions with time sensitive tasks will be most affected. 3) Support operations funded wholly or partly by the regular budget will be disrupted, including: on-boarding of personnel; entitlement and payroll processing; payments to vendors; treasury operations, including cash movements; maintenance of facilities; and banking operations. Considering this devastating picture, Member States have an obligation to support the United Nations in fulfilling the mandates that they themselves have given. The United Nations’ credibility is at stake. I trust that the remaining differences will be put aside, so we can reach a conclusion and provide the support required to fulfil our obligations. Member States will continue to have my full support and appreciation in this endeavour. " Volkan BOZKIR President of the General Assembly United Nations New York 29 December 2020
Flag ceremony for the newly-elected non-permanent members of the Security Council (2021-2022)
Installation ceremony of the national flags of the countries of the newly-elected non-permanent members to serve on the United Nations Security Council for the term 2021-2022.
UN Security Council Briefing: Declaration on resolving the "Gulf rift" welcomed by UN Secretary-General
Remarks by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres at the opening of the open VTC of the security Council on maintenance of international peace and security: Challenges of maintaining peace and security in fragile contexts.
"We the Peoples" UN75 event - Press Conference
Virtual Press Conference by Fabrizio Hochschild-Drummond, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Commemoration of the United Nations 75th Anniversary, on the preview of the UN75 event entitled "We the Peoples: In conversation with the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres"
