The complex and evolving nature of terrorism necessitates a response that is as agile and multifaceted as the threat itself, the United Nations Secretary-General said on Thursday.

Addressing a high-level conference on counter-terrorism, Secretary-General António Guterres underscored that working together must be the “top priority.”

“We must strengthen the capacities of our counter-terrorism structures and institutions and we must complement our counter-terrorism efforts in the security realm with concerted efforts to identify and address the root causes.”

He also highlighted the need to strengthen resilience and build cohesion in societies.

“Communities and the State need to be joined with the common purpose of rejecting terrorist ideologies and challenging those who espouse them,” stated the UN chief.

Terrorism is a grave and complex threat. Ending it demands that we work together flexibly, intelligently and openly – Secretary-General Guterres

Support should also be provided to civil society which has a major role to play in preventing violent extremism and there should be more engagement with women and young people, so they can play “meaningful roles” in combatting the scourge, he added.

Mr. Guterres also cautioned that the “frontline” against terrorism is increasingly in cyberspace, with terrorists exploiting social media, encrypted communications and the so-called “dark web” to spread propaganda and coordinate attacks.

There has also been a shift towards “less sophisticated attacks” against “softer targets” that are more difficult to detect and prevent, he said; noting that following military defeat in one region of the world, foreign terrorist fighters are likely to move elsewhere – either returning home or relocating to other conflict zones.

The transnational nature of terrorism “means we need multilateral cooperation,” he highlighted.

Convened by the Secretary-General on 28-29 June, under the overarching theme of “strengthening international cooperation to combat the evolving threat of terrorism”, the high-level conference aims to forge a new partnership for multilateral cooperation to strengthen the international community’s counter-terrorism efforts.

“Terrorism is a grave and complex threat. Ending it demands that we work together flexibly, intelligently and openly,” said Mr. Guterres.

In his remarks, the Secretary-General outlined the goals of the conference.

These include:

• A strengthened international counter-terrorism cooperation.
• A renewed and sustained focus on preventing terrorism.
• Full respect for human rights while tackling terrorism.
• The need for “strategic investment” in young people to counter terrorism and prevent violent extremism.
• Recognizing the “tragic human cost” of terrorism.
• And strengthening the role of the United Nations in assisting its Member States to tackle terrorism.

The United Nations stands ready to support efforts to resolve deadly clashes between farmers and nomadic herders in areas of West and Central Africa, the head of the global organization said on Thursday.

More than 80 people in central Nigeria were killed in land disputes between the two sides this week. However, this has been a long-standing issue with similar incidents occurring in other countries in Africa, causing more than 1,000 deaths over the past year alone, according to media reports.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed deep concern over the mounting violence, as well as the resulting banditry, extortion and cattle rustling.

 “He condemns the resulting loss of life, property and livelihoods, as well as population displacement, which undermines peaceful coexistence between communities in many of the affected countries. It is also detrimental to regional stability,” the statement said.

 The UN chief urged all concerned governments, regional organizations, civil society and other parties to work together to find solutions to the conflicts.

 He underlined the readiness and commitment of the UN to support national and regional efforts in this regard. 

A “global care crisis” is looming which could affect 2.3 billion people by 2030, United Nations work experts warned on Thursday, highlighting the potential for greater inequality in a sector where women already perform “more than three-quarters” of all unpaid work.

In a call for sweeping policy changes regarding the care of children and the elderly, the report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) says that 269 million jobs could be created in the next 12 years, if Member States doubled current investment in education, health and social work.

The potential impact could be huge, with 16.4 billion hours per day already spent in unpaid care work, according to the report, which cites data from 64 countries, representing two-thirds of all workers.

This is the equivalent of two billion people “working eight hours a day with no remuneration”, it notes, explaining that of the 2.1 billion people in need of care in 2015, 1.9 billion were children under 15 and the remainder were older persons.

Across the world, women perform 76.2 per cent of the total hours of unpaid care work and over three times more than men –  Shauna Olney (ILO)

The data also highlights a huge gender gap in the care sector, ILO’s Shauna Olney told journalists in Geneva, explaining that “across the world, women perform 76.2 per cent of the total hours of unpaid care work and over three times more than men”.

This equates to “606 million women, compared to 41 million men” being unavailable for employment, or not seeking a job, because of unpaid care work, Olney said – “a key factor” in determining whether women “enter into and stay” in employment, as well as important in determining the quality of paid jobs they get.

One of the report’s other key findings is data showing that mothers of children under six years old have the most difficulty finding a job, with fewer than half of them able to secure paid work.

This tallies with the discovery that only 77 countries out of 184, with available data, met minimum maternity protection standards in 2016, while even fewer had any paternity leave provision for fathers.

This is linked to the “very much engrained” belief in many societies that men are the household’s sole breadwinner, and that women are the principal carers, the report says.

It also points to the regional finding that long-term care services “are close to non-existent” in most African, Latin American and Asian countries.

Insisting on the need for reform to address current “deficits in care work and its quality” – particularly in countries where women’s employment opportunities are growing – the ILO report finds that in the few countries where men’s contribution to care work is increasing, it is happening slowly, at a “glacial rate”.

“At this pace, it will take 210 years to close the gender gap in unpaid work”, even in the 23 countries where men’s contribution to the care sector has increased in the past two decades, Shauna Olney said.

Notwithstanding “the continued adherence by Iran” to its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the agreement is “at a crossroads” the United Nations top political official said on Wednesday.

“On 8 May 2018, the United States announced its withdrawal from the agreement. The Secretary-General … believes that issues not directly related to the Plan should be addressed without prejudice to preserving the agreement and its accomplishments,” Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told the Security Council.

“At the same time, the Secretary-General calls on Iran to consider carefully the concerns expressed by Member States about Iranian activities that are allegedly contrary to the restrictive measures contained in annex B,” she added.

Annex B of Security Council resolution 2231, in which the Council endorsed the JCPOA, deals with the restrictions concerning Iran.

The JCPOA – reached by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the US and the European Union – sets out rigorous mechanisms for monitoring restrictions placed on Iran’s nuclear programme, while paving the way for the lifting of UN sanctions against the country.

In her briefing, Ms. DiCarlo updated the 15-member Council on the status of implementation of various JCPOA provisions, concerning nuclear verification, ballistic missile development and other armaments restrictions; as well as assets freezes, and travel bans.

On the ballistic missile-related provisions, the UN official informed the Council that, since the last report, the Secretariat had been informed by Saudi authorities of “nine additional launches of ballistic missiles by the Houthis, which in their assessment were Iranian Qiam-1 missiles.”

“The Secretariat assesses that the debris of the five missiles launched at Yanbu and Riyadh since July 2017 share key design features with the Iranian Qiam-1 ballistic missile,” she said, adding: “It is also our assessment that some component parts of the debris were manufactured in Iran.”

She noted however, that at present, the Secretariat “is unable to determine whether such missiles, or parts thereof, or related technology, may have been transferred from Iran after 16 January 2016, the date when annex B provisions came into effect.”

She also informed Council members of information received from Israel regarding the possible presence of an Iranian drone in Syria, which was reportedly downed after entering Israeli airspace in February.

“The Secretariat did not have the opportunity to examine its debris, but images provided by Israeli authorities show that its wing configuration appears consistent with that of an Iranian drone unveiled in October 2016,” informed Ms. DiCarlo, adding that the Secretariat “has no information as to the owner and operator of those drones.”

The United Nations chemical weapons watchdog voted in favour of a United Kingdom-led proposal on Wednesday, allocating itself new powers to assign blame for attacks.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW), which is made up of Member States, voted by a margin of 82 in favor and 24 against – “to identify the perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic”, where the Fact-Finding Mission in the country has decided that weapons have been used, or are likely to have been used.

Until the vote by States Parties on Wednesday, OPCW could only say whether chemical weapons had been used, but not by whom.

“I have not hesitated in pointing out that currently there is no mechanism that would ensure that those who use chemical weapons are held fully accountable,” OPCW Director-General  Ahmet Üzümcü stated at the opening of the Special Session Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

“Investigations of alleged use of chemical weapons are essential if we are to preserve the core norms of the Convention, its credibility, and its integrity,” he added, saying that chemical weapons use is a serious offence requiring resolute action.

According to news reports, the European Union and the United States supported the UK-led move to expand the OPCW’s powers, while Iran, Syria and Russia opposed the move as going beyond its mandate.

The UK introduced the motion, after a chemical agent was used to poison a former Russian intelligence officer in the English city of Salisbury, in early March. OPCW inspectors confirmed on 18 April, that a toxic chemical of “high purity” had been used. The UK accused Russia of being the source, but Russia has firmly rejected that charge.

Investigations of alleged use of chemical weapons are essential – Ahmet Üzümcü, OPCW Director-General

Wednesday’s decision of the OPCW condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the use of chemical weapons by anyone under any circumstances, anywhere, calling it “unacceptable,” and contravening international norms and standards.

Moreover, it condemned the use of chemical weapons since 2012 in Iraq, Malaysia, Syria and the UK, as well as by State and by non-State actors as a “direct threat” to the object and purpose of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

The States Parties also reiterated the role of the OPCW Executive Council on cases of non-compliance and requested the Secretariat preserve and provide information to the General Assembly-established investigative mechanism, as well as to any relevant UN investigatory entities.

“If accountability is avoided, the potential re-emergence and acceptance of chemicals as weapons of war and terror will not be deterred,” stressed Mr. Üzümcü.

As the CWC’s implementing body, the OPCW oversees the global effort to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since its 1997 entry into force – with 193 States Parties – it is the most successful disarmament treaty ever, eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.