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Tag: United Nations

  • Pakistan Condemns Houthi Attacks on Saudi Arabia

    Pakistan Condemns Houthi Attacks on Saudi Arabia

    Pakistan has condemned the continued Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia and reaffirmed its support for Yemen’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity. The position was set out by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Syed Haider Shah, in New York after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution renewing the sanctions measures established under resolution 2140 (2014) and extending the mandate of the Panel of Experts supporting the 2140 Committee.

    Ambassador Shah condemned in the strongest terms the continued Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia. He expressed Pakistan’s full and unwavering solidarity with the leadership, government and brotherly people of Saudi Arabia, and reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolute support for the Kingdom’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and stability.

    He underscored Saudi Arabia’s legitimate right to defend its territory and to protect its citizens and residents in accordance with the UN Charter and international law, and called for an immediate and unconditional end to what he described as the reprehensible Houthi attacks.

    Support for UN-led peace efforts

    Ambassador Shah welcomed the Security Council resolution and underscored the importance of the 2140 Committee’s work in promoting peace, security and stability in Yemen. He appreciated the constructive efforts of the United Kingdom, as the penholder, during the negotiations leading to the adoption of the resolution, and said Pakistan had voted in favour of it to reaffirm the importance it attached to the Committee’s work.

    He emphasised that holding accountable individuals and entities threatening Yemen’s peace, security and stability was essential to creating conditions for durable peace. On the implementation of the sanctions regime, he stressed the importance of upholding the institutional framework established by the Security Council, and said the Panel of Experts must discharge its responsibilities strictly in accordance with its mandate, with professionalism, impartiality and consistency.

    Call for a political settlement in Yemen

    Reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to peace and stability in Yemen, Ambassador Shah underscored the importance of UN-led efforts to advance an inclusive political process that is Yemeni-owned and Yemeni-led. He reiterated Pakistan’s readiness to support all efforts aimed at restoring peace, stability and security in Yemen and alleviating the humanitarian suffering of its people.

    The statement comes days after Pakistan’s Foreign Office strongly condemned an attempted Houthi attack on a Saudi Aramco administrative building in Riyadh, in which no casualties were reported. The Saudi-led coalition said its air defences had intercepted two ballistic missiles launched towards Riyadh. Reports this week have also pointed to Houthi attacks on Saudi targets, including infrastructure and shipping, underlining the wider regional security concerns raised by Pakistan at the United Nations.

  • UN Peacekeepers End 48-Year Lebanon Mission

    UN Peacekeepers End 48-Year Lebanon Mission

    UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon is preparing to end its mission after 48 years, as its mandate expires on 31 December and no successor arrangement has yet been agreed.

    The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was established by the UN Security Council on 19 March 1978, with three main tasks: to confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, to restore international peace and security, and to assist the Lebanese Government in re-establishing its authority in the south.

    In August 2025, the Security Council voted unanimously not to renew the mission’s mandate beyond the end of 2026. Preparations for the force’s withdrawal are expected to begin in January 2027, with peacekeepers leaving over the following year.

    Speaking to UN News from the mission’s headquarters at Naqoura, UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said the situation in southern Lebanon remained volatile and extremely difficult for communities trying to rebuild their lives, despite a significant decrease in hostilities following an agreement in June between the United States, Lebanon and Israel.

    Ardiel said daily violations by Israeli forces continued to be observed across southern Lebanon. The force still monitors the frontier, reports breaches by all parties and supports the Lebanese Armed Forces in the area between the Blue Line and the Litani River.

    The dangers facing the peacekeepers were underlined on Tuesday evening, when a routine patrol near Wadi Jilu in the Tyre district came under fire. About 7,500 peacekeepers from 46 countries are still serving with the mission.

    The Security Council has so far agreed no follow-on arrangement. France and Italy have discussed forming a new international coalition, and the European Union has launched a separate mission to train Lebanese security forces, but that mission is not intended to replace UNIFIL.

    The UN’s peacekeeping chief, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, warned on 4 November that the end of the Lebanon mission, along with the closure of the Western Sahara mission at the end of October after 35 years, could leave security gaps unless new arrangements are put in place.

    Ireland’s 69th Infantry Group is the last Irish unit to deploy to Lebanon under the mission, and will leave after the mandate ends on 31 December.

  • UN Takes Up Missing AJK Activist Shoukat Nawaz Mir Case

    UN Takes Up Missing AJK Activist Shoukat Nawaz Mir Case

    The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has taken up the case of Shoukat Nawaz Mir, a resident of Muzaffarabad and a leader of the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), under its urgent action procedure, the Jammu Kashmir Human Rights Observatory (JKHRO) has said.

    In a communication dated 11 November 2026, the Working Group’s Chair-Rapporteur, Grazyna Baranowska, informed the observatory that the case was considered during the Working Group’s 140th session and transmitted to the Government of Pakistan on 23 September 2026. The case is registered as Case No. 10017638.

    According to JKHRO, the Working Group expressed the hope that appropriate investigations would be carried out to clarify Mr Mir’s fate and whereabouts and to protect his rights. It also confirmed that any information received from the Government of Pakistan would be shared with the observatory.

    Mr Mir was reportedly detained on 30 June 2026 while travelling towards a sit-in in Rawalakot, and taken to an undisclosed location, according to the information submitted to the United Nations. His family says they have had no contact with him since, and approached the High Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir in July seeking his production before the court. JKHRO says he was not produced before the court on the hearing dates recorded in the UN case summary, and that as of 12 November his whereabouts, physical condition, place of detention and legal status remain undisclosed.

    The two sides give sharply different accounts. The family maintains that Mr Mir was arrested and is being held without disclosure of any warrant, legal basis or place of detention. The government and police have told the court that he is not in their custody, and that he is wanted in cases registered in Rawalakot, Bagh and Muzaffarabad and is evading arrest, according to regional media reports. At the time of the reported arrest, the Muzaffarabad deputy commissioner was reported to have confirmed the detention, the reports said.

    JKHRO has called on the authorities to disclose Mr Mir’s fate and whereabouts without delay, produce him before a competent court, give his family and legal representatives access to him, disclose the legal basis for any detention, ensure his safety, and conduct an independent investigation. The observatory itself notes that the UN intervention does not amount to a judicial finding of responsibility, but places the case formally before the Government of Pakistan and calls for a credible response.

  • COP31: Leaders Push 35% Electricity Goal by 2035 in Antalya

    COP31: Leaders Push 35% Electricity Goal by 2035 in Antalya

    World leaders took the stage at the COP31 climate talks in the Turkish resort city of Antalya on Wednesday, setting out their national priorities as negotiators worked on a deal to raise the share of electricity in global energy use. Delegates from nearly 200 countries are attending the two-week conference, where the main push from host Turkey is an electrification goal that would lift electricity to 35 percent of total energy consumption by 2035, up from a little over a fifth today.

    The leaders’ speeches began on Wednesday afternoon and were scheduled to continue through Thursday, according to the conference programme. Wednesday’s speakers included Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose country hosted last year’s climate talks, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, and Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine.

    Speaking to the conference on Tuesday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged countries to set clear timelines for moving away from fossil fuels. “It is long past time to stop treating the transition away from fossil fuels as taboo or intractable,” he said, calling on governments to turn promises into action.

    The talks are taking place against a difficult backdrop. A UN report published last month found the world on course to break through the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming limit that countries agreed to pursue under the Paris Agreement, while global greenhouse gas emissions show little sign of falling and wars, inflation and other crises compete for political attention.

    Turkey’s electrification proposal sits at the centre of the draft deal, even though critics say it may do little to slow warming on its own. The idea is that shifting cars, factories and buildings onto electricity would cut emissions, but the proposal does not require the new power to come from clean energy sources. Governments have yet to agree on a broader plan to move away from coal, oil and gas.

    Implementation is the watchword

    Former French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius, who chaired the 2015 Paris climate conference and now leads an advisory council of former COP presidents, said the leaders’ speeches could give the talks fresh political momentum. “It is an opportunity for leaders to make some announcements, and more this time, to explain how they will implement, because the key word in Antalya is implementation,” he told Reuters.

    The previous summit in Brazil was unable to reach consensus on a global plan to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Since then, however, the Brazilian COP presidency has published a roadmap aimed at keeping the idea on the agenda. It asks countries first to plan and assess their energy systems by 2028, then to work together to reduce fossil fuel supply from 2031.

    The United States, the world’s largest historical emitter, is not at the talks. Washington has skipped the conference for a second year in a row after President Donald Trump, who has called global warming a hoax, withdrew the US from climate cooperation following his return to office in 2025.

    With leaders’ speeches wrapping up on Thursday, attention now turns to the negotiators, who must decide whether the electrification goal and any language on fossil fuels make it into a final agreement before the summit closes.

  • COP31 Opens in Antalya as 100,000 Gather for Climate Talks

    COP31 Opens in Antalya as 100,000 Gather for Climate Talks

    The United Nations climate conference COP31 opened in Antalya, Türkiye, on Monday, bringing government negotiators together for two weeks of talks on climate finance, emissions cuts and adaptation.

    The 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is being held at the Antalya Expo Center, with negotiations scheduled to continue until November 20. A leaders’ summit will follow on November 11 and 12, when heads of state and government will join the talks.

    The negotiations cover climate finance, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to the effects of a warming planet, alongside support for workers and communities during the energy transition. A Climate Action Agenda running alongside the talks involves businesses, cities and civil society.

    Official negotiating sessions are taking place in the Blue Zone, where entry is restricted to registered participants. The host country’s Green Zone is open to the public but will close to visitors during the two days of the leaders’ summit.

    Türkiye, as host, is pushing electrification to the top of the agenda, with a target of 35 percent of global energy demand being met by electricity by 2035. The summit is expected to draw more than 100,000 people over its two weeks.

    The conference opens as countries face pressure to turn past climate pledges into action. The United Nations has warned that the financing gap for helping developing nations cope with climate change remains large, and the talks in Antalya are expected to test whether governments are ready to close it.

    Energy security is also weighing on the discussions, with the war in the Middle East adding to uncertainty over energy supplies and prices. Negotiators will have to balance those immediate pressures with the longer-term goal of cutting emissions and building cleaner energy systems.

    The outcome of the conference will be watched closely by governments, businesses and campaigners alike, as the world measures progress against the goals set under the Paris Agreement more than a decade ago.

    For many developing countries, the central question in Antalya is money. They want richer nations to deliver far more finance to help them build clean energy, protect their people from floods and droughts, and recover from climate disasters. The talks will also examine how the world can speed up the shift away from fossil fuels while keeping energy affordable and reliable for growing economies.

  • Pakistan to Host Three Big Diplomatic Events Next Week

    Pakistan to Host Three Big Diplomatic Events Next Week

    Pakistan will host three major diplomatic events from next week, beginning on 9 November, in a busy stretch of international engagement for the country. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will chair the gatherings, which cover the United Nations, Palestine and regional economic cooperation on Afghanistan.

    On 10 November, Dar will chair a high-level event marking 60 years of the Pakistan-UN partnership. Pakistan is currently a member of the UN Security Council, and the event will mark six decades of the country’s partnership with the world body.

    Also on 10 November, Pakistan will host a meeting of 13 foreign ministers and heads of delegation from Muslim countries, chaired by Dar, to discuss the Palestine situation. The meeting will bring together senior representatives from across the Muslim world for talks on one of the region’s most pressing issues.

    On 12 and 13 November, Pakistan will host the 8th Ministerial Conference on the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan, known as RECCA, in Islamabad. The conference, also chaired by Dar, will focus on regional economic cooperation linked to Afghanistan.

    During the RECCA conference, Dar will hold bilateral meetings with representatives from various countries, according to the Foreign Office spokesperson. The meetings will run alongside the main conference sessions in the capital.

    All three gatherings will be chaired by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who will also use the RECCA conference to hold bilateral meetings with representatives from various countries. The programme was confirmed by the Foreign Office spokesperson, who set out the dates and the chair for each event and the bilateral meetings planned around them.

    The three events, taken together, set up a crowded diplomatic calendar for Pakistan next week. The UN partnership event and the Muslim foreign ministers’ meeting both fall on the same day, 10 November, while the RECCA conference follows two days later, giving the Foreign Office a full week of high-level hosting.

    The schedule places Pakistan at the centre of several strands of diplomacy at once: its long-standing partnership with the United Nations, joint discussions among Muslim countries on Palestine, and regional economic cooperation on Afghanistan. Each of the three gatherings will be chaired by the foreign minister, underlining the importance Islamabad attaches to the week.

  • UN Backs Pakistan’s Call for Diplomacy During War

    UN Backs Pakistan’s Call for Diplomacy During War

    New York: The United Nations Security Council has adopted a presidential statement initiated by Pakistan urging countries to keep diplomacy alive even during active hostilities. The statement, titled ‘The Role of Diplomacy during Active Hostilities’, was adopted on Thursday under the November presidency of Latvia, whose Ambassador Sanita Pavļuta-Deslandes chaired the proceedings.

    The statement calls on countries to maintain diplomatic engagement during armed conflicts and to work towards ceasefires, de-escalation and lasting political settlements. It stresses that dialogue should continue even when fighting is under way, rather than being abandoned until the guns fall silent.

    It encourages the use of mediation, good offices and direct or indirect communication between conflicting parties. According to the statement, such engagement should aim to facilitate cessations of hostilities, ensure safe humanitarian access, protect civilians and prevent conflicts from spreading to other regions.

    Building on Resolution 2788

    The presidential statement builds on Security Council Resolution 2788, which was unanimously adopted in July 2025 during Pakistan’s presidency of the Council. That resolution also focused on strengthening the role of diplomacy in resolving international disputes peacefully.

    Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Syed Haider Shah, welcomed the adoption of the statement. ‘Diplomacy must not end when hostilities begin,’ he said, adding that keeping channels of communication open during conflicts was essential for protecting lives and finding a way back to peace.

    The statement does not impose binding obligations, but presidential statements of the Security Council carry significant political weight and signal the Council’s collective position. Diplomats say the text reflects a growing concern that conflicts are lasting longer and that early diplomatic engagement can prevent them from escalating further.

    Pakistan has long argued at the United Nations that diplomacy, mediation and dialogue should remain central to the Council’s work, and the adoption of the statement is being seen as a notable success for the country’s diplomacy at the world body.

    The text places particular emphasis on keeping channels of communication open between parties in conflict, including through intermediaries, so that even where direct talks are not possible, messages can still pass between the sides. Diplomats say this reflects the practical reality of modern conflicts, where fighting often continues for years while formal negotiations remain stalled.

    The statement also links diplomacy to the protection of civilians, noting that continued engagement can help secure humanitarian access and reduce the risk of conflicts spreading beyond their borders. By adopting the text, the Council has signalled that diplomacy is not a step to be taken only after fighting ends, but a tool to be used throughout a conflict.

  • Western Sahara UN Mission Ends After 35 Years

    Western Sahara UN Mission Ends After 35 Years

    The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara has come to an end after 35 years, after the Security Council failed to renew its mandate. The mission, known as MINURSO, entered what the United Nations described as a liquidation phase on 1 November, with its assets to be transported back to troop-contributing countries.

    UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres confirmed the end of the mission in a statement on Sunday, following the expiry of its mandate without a renewal. The mission had been in place since a UN-brokered ceasefire in 1991, and its observers monitored developments in a territory whose status has remained disputed for decades.

    Morocco, which claims Western Sahara as its own territory, welcomed the decision. The Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which has sought an independent state in the territory since former colonial power Spain left in 1976, expressed concern at the end of the mission, according to reports of the reactions.

    How the mandate expired

    The end of the mission follows a year in which the Security Council adopted a US-drafted resolution accepting Rabat’s plan to give the territory autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. That resolution shaped the diplomatic backdrop to the latest round of voting, but it did not itself settle the mission’s future.

    In the most recent round, Russia, which had abstained in last year’s vote, vetoed another US-backed resolution that would have cemented the UN’s preference for the Moroccan plan while scaling back the peacekeeping force. The Security Council then defeated a competing Russian resolution, leaving the mission to expire without a new mandate.

    The sequence of votes meant that neither proposal secured the support needed to continue the mission, and the mandate simply ran out. The United Nations has said the liquidation phase will involve the orderly return of equipment and personnel, a process that typically takes time for a mission of this size and age.

    What MINURSO did

    MINURSO was established to monitor the ceasefire agreed in 1991, and its observers reported on developments on the ground. Over 35 years it became one of the United Nations’ longest-running peacekeeping operations, operating in a remote desert environment where monitoring depended on patrols and observation posts.

    The mission’s closure removes the UN’s on-the-ground monitoring presence in the territory at a moment when the political process remains unresolved. Supporters of the autonomy plan argue that it offers a realistic path forward, while the Polisario Front and its backers maintain that the people of the territory should decide their own future.

    Diplomats will now watch whether the end of the mission changes the dynamics of the dispute, or whether political negotiations continue through other channels. For now, the immediate practical task is the winding down of a mission that has been part of the landscape of Western Sahara for more than three decades.