Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements)
DIRCO Minister Ronald Lamola previews South Africa’s participation at the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development TICAD9), taking place under the theme “Co-creating Innovative Solutions With Africa” in Yokohama on 20 – 22 August 2025.
Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements)
His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa arrives at Haneda International Airport in Japan. President Ramaphosa leads a high-level South African Delegation to the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Summit in Japan.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
On this World Humanitarian Day, aid workers and their supporters commemorate those killed and stand in solidarity with those serving people in need, demanding urgent protection for civilians and aid operations.
Attacks on humanitarian workers, assets and operations violate international humanitarian law and undermine the lifelines that sustain millions of people trapped in war and disaster zones.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Video message by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, on World Humanitarian Day 2025.
"Humanitarian workers are the last lifeline for over 300 million people caught in conflict or disaster.
Yet, funding for that lifeline is drying up.
And those who provide humanitarian aid are increasingly under attack.
Last year, at least 390 aid workers – a record high – were killed across the world.
From Gaza to Sudan to Myanmar and beyond.
International law is clear: humanitarians must be respected and protected. They can never be targeted.
This rule is non-negotiable and is binding on all parties to conflict, always and everywhere.
Yet red lines are crossed with impunity.
Governments have pledged action – and the Security Council has laid out a path to protect
humanitarians and their lifesaving work.
The rules and tools exist. What is missing is political will – and moral courage.
On this World Humanitarian Day, let’s honour the fallen with action:
To protect every aid worker – and invest in their safety.
To stop the lies that cost lives.
To strengthen accountability and bring perpetrators to justice.
To end arms flows to parties that violate international law.
Together, let us say in one voice: An attack on humanitarians is an attack on humanity.
And let’s #ActForHumanity".
More info: https://www.un.org/en/observances/humanitarian-day
Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements)
Deputy President Mashatile undertakes a working visit to His Majesty, King Ndamase, Amampondo ase Nyandeni
Source: World Trade Organization – WTO (video statements)
Source: European Commission (video statements)
We came together today as allies and friends.
To stop the killing.
And to make sure that every single Ukrainian child abducted by Russia is returned to their families.
Our work continues.
For strong security guarantees for Ukraine.
And for a lasting and durable peace.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
The Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee today (18 Aug) told the Security Council that there has been “a continued erosion of the gains previously made in the peace process” in South Sudan, including “an escalation of political and subnational violence and stagnation in the implementation of the Peace Agreement.”
Pobee said the international community has “repeatedly called for a cessation of hostilities, de-escalation and return to dialogue. However, she added, they “have not yielded any concrete response” and instead, “a pattern of violations and unilateral actions persists, which continues to undermine the ability of the Government of national unity to implement the Agreement.”
If this trend continues, she said, “it will likely lead to a shift in conflict dynamics, from subnational and community-based violence to a more complex landscape shaped by ethnic divisions involving signatory parties and other actors, including those from neighbouring countries.”
Pobee called on the parties “to unblock the current political deadlock by fully recommitting to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, releasing the political detainees, engaging in direct high-level dialogue, and recommit implementing an inclusive peace process, particularly on key issues such as transitional security arrangements, transitional justice, constitution-making, and elections.”
The Interim Chairperson of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) George Aggrey Owinow, briefing remotely from Juba, said, “the current situation and trajectory of the country, if not urgently addressed, risks to reverse all that has been gained and may lead to a collapse” of the peace agreement, “which could return the country back to an armed conflict.”
The RJMEC and its partners, Aggrey Owinow said, “have repeatedly called for constructive dialog, de-escalation of tensions, addressed the issues of detainees and returned to full and implementation” of the agreement.
For his part, South Sudan’s Ambassador Sabino Edward Nyawella Amaikweytold the Council that “South Sudan remains committed to ensuring that any obstacles – real or perceived – to and UNMISS operations are addressed in good faith and without delay.”
Nyawella Amaikweytold confirmed that “any such situations could either be attributed to our efforts to ensuring safety of the mission’s assets and or personnel, or they are merely due to lack of information sharing, or the capacity of the individuals involved. It is never a policy of the government of the Republic of South Sudan to hinder UNMISS mandate.”
The Agreement on the Roadmap to a Peaceful and Democratic End of the Transitional Period of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) was concluded and signed on 12 September 2018 and was scheduled to end after a period of 44 months.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Informal comments to the media by Dmitry Polyanskiy, the First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations, on the situation in Georgia.
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Responding, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, pointed to economic and people-to-people ties.
“Our trade turnover with Georgia is $2.5 billion – we’re the second trade partner of Georgia. We also had 1.5 million Russian tourists who visited Georgia last year,” he said, calling it evidence of a “clear desire of both our nations to re-establish mutual ties and to normalize our relations.”
Polyanskiy said some states sought to make Georgia “a pawn of their geopolitical interests,” and added that Moscow supported “the creation of a favorable security climate in the South Caucasus,” including treaties on non-aggression among Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Joint press encounter by the E5 with statement read by Ms. Ondina Blokar Drobič, Deputy Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations, on the situation in Georgia – Security Council Media Stakeout.
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“The Russian invasion of Georgia in August of 2008 demonstrated the start of Russia’s more aggressive stance towards its neighbors. Russia has continued down this path with its unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine,” Slovenia’s Deputy Permanent Representative, Ondina Blokar Drobič, said Monday on behalf of European members of the Security Council.
Marking 17 years since the conflict, she told reporters in New York that Russia maintains an “illegal military presence” in Georgia’s Abkhazia and Tskhinvali/South Ossetia regions.
Drobič added that Moscow had taken steps “towards annexation of the two Georgian regions, including signing of the so-called integration treaties, transferring strategically important parts of Georgian territory and infrastructure to Russia and conducting illegal so-called elections.”
The ambassador also condemned the killings of Georgian citizens Davit Basharuli, Giga Otkhozoria, Archil Tatunashvili, Tamaz Ginturi, Temur (Vitali) Karbaia, and Irakli Kvaratskhelia, saying perpetrators must be brought to justice. She recalled judgments of the European Court of Human Rights that she said confirmed Russia’s responsibility for “grave human rights violations, including killing of civilians, torture, inhumane and degrading treatment.”
Responding, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, pointed to economic and people-to-people ties.
“Our trade turnover with Georgia is $2.5 billion – we’re the second trade partner of Georgia. We also had 1.5 million Russian tourists who visited Georgia last year,” he said, calling it evidence of a “clear desire of both our nations to re-establish mutual ties and to normalize our relations.”
Polyanskiy said some states sought to make Georgia “a pawn of their geopolitical interests,” and added that Moscow supported “the creation of a favorable security climate in the South Caucasus,” including treaties on non-aggression among Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
