Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon urged regional organisations to find ways to expand their cooperation and dialogue to address increasingly interconnected global challenges. Ki-moon, who spoke at a high-level debate in the Security Council, said “Regional and sub-regional organisations have deep knowledge, unique insights and strong local networks. These elements are critical for mediation, planning a peacekeeping operation or helping a country to build lasting peace”. The meeting, according to a release by the global body, dwelt on cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organisations in maintaining international peace and security.

UN Wants Expanded Cooperation among Regional Organisations, Articles | THISDAY LIVE: "“We are better at sharing information and analysis on brewing crises, but we have to work harder on swift response and long-term prevention,” he noted, asking countries to examine how they can expand their cooperation in pursuit of international peace and security. “We need to learn from the lessons of our collaborations to build ever more innovative and flexible partnership arrangements that draw on our respective strengths,” he said. “Only through cooperation will we meet our shared aspirations for a more peaceful world.” The debate, presided over by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina, which holds the Council’s presidency this month, sought to further strengthen dialogue and exchange of information among regional and sub-regional organisations and the UN on issues such as conflict prevention, peaceful settlement of disputes, peacekeeping and post-conflict peacebuilding. In his remarks, Ki-moon highlighted examples of valuable cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organisations across the globe." CLICK LINK TO READ MORE

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The United Nations peacekeeping force monitoring the Israeli-Lebanese border said it has opened an investigation into an incident involving an explosion that injured several soldiers belonging to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). In a statement issued to the press, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said it was informed by the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) that an IDF patrol had crossed the so-called Blue Line separating the two countries last night in the general area of Labouneh and that there had subsequently been an explosion.

United Nations News Centre - UN peacekeeping force investigating blast near Israeli-Lebanese border: "UNIFIL immediately launched an investigation into the alleged violation of Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and the Lebanese group Hizbollah, and calls for respect for the Blue Line, the disarming of all militias in Lebanon, and an end to arms smuggling in the area.“A UNIFIL investigation team is currently at the location indicated by LAF. Our effort is to ascertain if any traces of a possible explosion or other activity can be identified on the ground,” the mission stated.“At the same time, we have asked the IDF to provide us details of any incident in the area as alleged and, if so, its precise location,” UNIFIL added. Established in 1978, UNIFIL is tasked with ensuring that the area between the Blue Line and the Litani River is free of unauthorized weapons, personnel and assets. It also cooperates with the LAF so they can fulfil their security responsibilities." CLICK LINK TO READ MORE

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