DPRK; Child Soldiers; WFP; CAR

DPRK: The SG strongly condemned Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons test this morning at a SC session on the issue. Mr. Ban said that the test is a clear and grave violation of the relevant SC resolutions and is a direct challenge to the Council. The SG is encouraged by the condemnation of this act by the international community and is confident that the Council will remain united and take appropriate action. According to a press readout following the consultation, the President of the SC for this month stated that “members of the Security Council will begin work immediately on appropriate measures in a Security Council resolution.”

Child Soldiers: Marking the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers, SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict, Leila Zerrougui, warned that thousands of children continue to be “abducted, recruited, killed, maimed, or raped in conflicts around the world” including in Syria and Mali. Both Zerrougui and Catherine Ashton, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, noted that the “credibility of the international child protection system will suffer” if serious attention is not paid to this issue.

WFP: WFP Chief Ertharin Cousin is in Tanzania today. During her trip she will meet with President Jakaya Kikwete and Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda, and will visit the WFP’s port operations in Dar-es-Salaam to see a central logistics hub that is vital to the Agency’s work in Africa.

CAR: UNHCR announced today that they are worried about widespread looting in CAR. The Refugee Agency conducted an assessment mission last week in Bambari, where they found multiple villages completely deserted, with residents hiding in the bush from armed groups and looters, as well as damage to UN facilities. UNHCR estimates the combined loss of its aid supplies and damage to its office premises at $316,000.