The Security Council on Tuesday gave its backing to the African Union force in Somalia, AMISOM, extending its deployment until at least the end of July.

In the resolution, unanimously adopted, the Council also recalled its earlier decision to authorize the AU to reduce the Mission’s level of uniformed personnel to 20,626 by 30 October this year from 22,126 now;  but to include a minimum of 1,040 AMISOM police personnel, including five specialist Formed Police Units.

It also requested that the UN Secretary‑General continue to provide logistical support for AMISOM, its 70 civilian personnel; the 10,900-strong Somalia National Army jointly operating with AMISOM, and the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).

The Council resolution adopted at the end of August last year, requested the AU and the UN to conduct a joint assessment of AMISOM’s operations – but this assessment has been delayed, leading to Tuesday’s decision to extend the deployment of AMISOM for just over two months, in order to assess the merits of a longer extension.

Briefing the Council, Michael Keating, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, said that AMISOM continues to play an indispensable role, “at great human cost”, in protecting population centres, main supply routes and Somalia’s overall political progress. 

“Suffice to say that successful security transition will require not just deep reform of the Somalia security forces but also, as the AU Commission Chairperson and UN Secretary-General’s Envoys noted, transformation of AMISOM,” he said.

Such transformation would entail more flexible joint operations and combat mentoring; greater emphasis on policing; adequate enablers and force multipliers, together with stronger accountability.

More flexible operational support by the UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) will also be needed, along with predictable financing.

“The AU-UN joint review is likely to underscore that the foremost requirement for success is the need for unity of purpose among Somali actors, as well as between the Somalis, the AU, the troop-contributing countries, and principal security partners,” he said.

Although correctly identifying disease is essential for successful treatment, many have no way of accessing an accurate diagnosis, the United Nation health agency said on Tuesday, launching new tool to close this critical gap.

“An accurate diagnosis is the first step to getting effective treatment,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, of the World Health Organization (WHO).

“No one should suffer or die because of a lack of diagnostic services, or because the right tests were not available,” he added.

WHO’s first “Essential Diagnostics List” – a catalogue of the tests needed to diagnose the most common conditions as well as numerous diseases deemed to be a “global priority” – concentrates on in vitro tests, such as blood samples or urine specimens.

The list contains more than 100 products involving 58 tests for detecting and diagnosing a wide range of common conditions; and providing an essential package for screening and managing patient care. 

Other tests are designed to detect, diagnose and monitor “priority” diseases, such as HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, hepatitis B and C, human papillomavirus and syphilis. 

Some tests are particularly suitable for primary health care facilities, where laboratory services are often poorly resourced or even non-existent, said WHO. For example, tests that can rapidly diagnose a child for acute malaria, or glucometers to test diabetes, do not require an electrical charging or trained personnel. 

Other tests are more sophisticated and suitable mainly for larger medical facilities.

“Our aim is to provide a tool that can be useful to all countries, to test and treat better, but also to use health funds more efficiently by concentrating on the truly essential tests,” said Mariângela Simão, WHO Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines, Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals.

“Our other goal is to signal to countries and developers that the tests in the list must be of good quality; safe and affordable.”

For each test category, the list specifies the type of test, intended use, format and – if appropriate – for primary care or health facilities with laboratories.

The list also provides links to WHO Guidelines or publications and, when available, to prequalified products, as well as a reference point for countries to update or develop their own list of essential diagnostics.

To benefit patients, Governments must ensure appropriate and quality-assured supplies, trained health care workers and safe use. WHO will support countries as they adapt the list for local context.

WHO will update the list on a regular basis and add categories to the next edition. It will expand over the next few years as it incorporates other important health challenges; including antimicrobial resistance, emerging pathogens, neglected tropical diseases and additional noncommunicable diseases.

The United Nations human rights arm has voiced deep concern over escalating conflict between the military and armed groups in Myanmar’s Kachin and Shan provinces that has displaced over 100,000 civilians and trapped many in the midst of active fighting.

“The protracted conflict in Kachin and northern Shan states has already caused immense suffering, and we urge all sides to work to resolve the situation through a genuine, meaningful dialogue,” Rupert Colville, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday.

On Saturday, at least 14 civilians were reportedly killed and over 20 injured in attacks by armed groups, along with a counter-offensive by government troops in Shan province. There are also reports that Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, has used heavy weaponry and aerial bombing in the region.

In addition, at least 7,400 people have been displaced in Kachin since early April, adding to the 100,000 already displaced. About 2,000 of these civilians, who were trying to flee the fighting were trapped in dense jungle, before they were reportedly relocated to other towns in the province.

Many more remain trapped in areas of active fighting, with extremely difficult escape routes through mountains and forests, and in need of humanitarian support – Rupert Colville, OHCHR spokesperson

“Many more remain trapped in areas of active fighting, with extremely difficult escape routes through mountains and forests, and in need of humanitarian support,” said Mr. Colville.

“We urge all sides to exercise restraint and to fully respect human rights and international humanitarian law, ensuring the protection of civilians at all times,” he added.

At the news briefing, the OHCHR spokesperson also raised alarm over reports that peaceful demonstrators calling for an end to hostilities, had been arrested in Kachin.

“We call on the authorities in Myanmar to respect the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression,” said Mr. Colville.

The escalation of conflict in Myanmar’s northern Kachin and eastern Shan provinces (bordering China) comes a few months after widespread violence against the minority Muslim Rohingya community in the country’s Rakhine province, drove more than 700,000 civilians across the border of southern Bangladesh where they are living in overcrowded camps, facing the onset of the approaching monsoon season.

None of the world’s challenges loom as large as climate change, the United Nations chief told a major climate action summit on Tuesday, reiterating his belief that global warming poses an “existential threat” to humanity.

Both leadership and innovation are essential for climate action, Secretary-General António Guterres said in his keynote address to the global gathering, known as the R20 Austrian World Summit – a long-term initiative to help regions, States and cities implement the Sustainable Development Goals and meet the Paris Agreement targets. 

Mr. Guterres spelled out: “We must use all our resources to build a sense of urgency”, to raise ambition, while keeping temperature rises in the years ahead, as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible.

He said there was reason to hope, declaring that “the world is seeing a groundswell of climate action”,  citing examples, including Morocco’s building of a solar farm “the size of Paris, that will power over a million homes by 2020” and China’s achievement in already passing it’s 2020 goal of producing 105 gigawatts of solar power capacity.

“We must build on this,” the UN chief emphasized, calling renewable energy – which already produces a fifth of the world’s electricity – power that also delivers significant health benefits.

The World Health Organization reports that more than 80 per cent of people living in urban areas are exposed to poor-quality air that is damaging human health. 

Financing to accelerate climate action is necessary if we are to bend the emissions curve Secretary-General António Guterres

“Investments in clean, green infrastructure need to be scaled up globally,” he explained. “For that, we need leadership from the finance and investment community and by local, regional and national governments who will decide on major infrastructure plans over the coming years.”

Mr. Guterres encouraged private sector leaders attending the UN General Assembly-backed summit in the Austrian capital, to announce new financing for clean energy projects. 

While the 30-member independent International Energy Agency estimates that 2017 investments in renewable electricity amounted to $242 billion, said the UN chief, that was still far less than the funds invested in new fossil fuel development. Billions of dollars more needs to be invested in renewables if we are to see a “full-scale transition to clean energy” by 2020, said Mr. Guterres.

Moreover, some 75 per cent of the infrastructure needed by 2050 has still not been built. 

“Mobilizing and equipping local governments with the capacity and financing to accelerate climate action is necessary if we are to bend the emissions curve,” he maintained. 

Noting that climate change continues to move faster than climate action, Mr. Guterres quoted the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change saying: “The more we disrupt our climate, the more we risk severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts.” 

“But,” he added, “it does not have to be that way,” pointing to solar, wind and cutting-edge technologies, such as electric vehicles or energy from algae in the ocean, which promises a new era of clean air. 

“Let’s join a race to the top, a race where there are only winners,” concluded the Secretary-General.