• Staffan de Mistura, the Special Envoy for Syria, spoke to reporters in Astana today, saying that he thought we have been able to witness an important promising positive step in the right direction in the process of de-escalation of the conflict.
• He said that the most important thing is that the initiative in Astana today is a step in the right direction because it is pushing for a concrete de-escalation, in addition to the ceasefire in four areas. He added that de-escalation obviously must be followed by humanitarian access. This is part of the memorandum.

• The Secretary-General’s report on sexual violence in conflict is out as a document, and it highlights patterns of violations, as well as challenges faced and actions taken by States to protect women, girls, men and boys from such violence. While many countries are affected by the threat, occurrence or legacy of conflict-related sexual violence, the present report is focused on 19 countries for which credible information is available.
• The report notes that sexual violence is no longer treated as merely a by-product of insecurity, but rather as a significant form of insecurity in itself. In it, the Secretary-General calls for victims of sexual violence to be recognized as legitimate victims of conflict and terrorism at the national level, which can entitle them to relief and reparations and can de-stigmatize survivors of these crimes.

• Boys and girls in north-east Nigeria continue to be brutalized as a result of Boko Haram’s insurgency in the region and the ensuing conflict, which is the conclusion of the Secretary-General’s first report on children and armed conflict in Nigeria, which documents the impact on children of the severe deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in the country between January 2013 and December 2016.
• Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, says that Boko Haram has inflicted unspeakable horror upon the children of Nigeria’s north-east and neighbouring countries.
• During the reporting period, attacks by Boko Haram on communities and confrontations between the group and security forces resulted in at least 3,900 children killed and 7,300 more maimed. Suicide attacks became the second leading cause of child casualties, accounting for over one thousand deaths and 2,100 injuries during the reporting period.

• On Saturday, May 6, the Secretary-General will travel Columbia, South Carolina, to speak at the commencement ceremony at the University of South Carolina.
• He will address 1,300 students, as well as receive an honourary degree from the institution.
• The Secretary-General will depart from Charleston, where, before flying back to New York, he will have an opportunity to visit the Boeing assembly plant at the airport. This visit is part of the Secretary-General’s efforts to step up engagement with the private sector.
• He will return to New York in the evening.

• The Secretary-General has agreed with the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, to establish a direct partnership between the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee.
• Accordingly, it was decided to close the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP), effective 30 April 2017. The substantive portfolio of the Office on Sport for Development and Peace will henceforth be handled by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
• The Secretary-General has requested the United Nations Office at Geneva to oversee the closure arrangements of UNOSDP. He wishes to express his appreciation for the dedicated service provided by the staff of the Office on Sport for Development and Peace.

• Yesterday, the camp of the UN Mission in Mali in Timbuktu was attacked. Preliminary reports indicate that 6 shells landed in the camp. One peacekeeper from Liberia was killed and 9 were wounded. 8 of them were evacuated to Bamako. Peacekeepers have reinforced the camp’s protection and deployed aerial reconnaissance assets to identify the zone from which the shots were fired.
• The UN Mission condemns this attack in the strongest terms and calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
• We join the UN Mission in extending our sincere condolences to the family of the peacekeeper who lost his life, as well as to the Liberian people and government, and we wish a speedy recovery to the injured.

• The United Nations in Colombia condemns the kidnapping yesterday in Guaviare of a national staff member of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and demands its immediate release.

• The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, today urged the Government of South Sudan to halt any further military offensives towards Aburoc on the west bank of the River Nile. Civilians in Aburoc are in areas controlled by opposition armed forces, facing a military offensive by Government forces. There are concerns that the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition has positioned itself in close proximity to civilian areas, placing civilians in harm’s way in the event of an attack by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army and affiliated forces. Mr. Zeid warned that civilians in Aburoc are at serious and imminent risk of gross human rights violations, inter-ethnic violence and re-displacement. He calls on all parties to comply with international humanitarian law, including taking all feasible precautions to prevent civilian casualties.
• Yesterday evening, the UN Mission’s Temporary Operating Base in Leer town came under small arms attack from the direction of the nearby Government-held town. Ghanaian peacekeepers quickly returned fire, deterring the attack. There were no casualties within the base or among the internally displaced people who had sought UN protection adjacent to the base.
• The head of the UN Mission, David Shearer, strongly condemned this attack and called on all parties to respect the sanctity of UN premises.

• Nearly 75,000 refugees and migrants, including an estimated 24,600 children, currently stranded in Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary and the Western Balkans are at risk of psychosocial distress caused by living in a protracted state of limbo, UNICEF warned today.
• The situation is particularly acute for single mothers and children stuck in Greece or the Balkans waiting for reunification with family members in other EU countries.
• In many cases, adult males are the first family members to make the trip to Europe, with the rest of the family following later.
• But with the 2016 border closures and implementation of the EU-Turkey statement, other family members are being held up in transit countries from where they must apply for family reunification, a process that typically takes between 10 months and two years.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that it will launch this year a pilot project for prequalifying biosimilar medicines, a step towards making some of the most expensive treatments for cancer more widely available in low- and middle-income countries.
• Biosimilar medicines are produced from biological sources such as cells rather than synthesised chemicals.
• Like generic medicines, biosimilars can be much less expensive versions of innovator biotherapeutics. They are usually manufactured by other companies once the patent on the original product has expired.
• In September, WHO will invite manufacturers to submit applications for prequalification of biosimilar versions of two products on its Essential Medicines List, one used principally to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the other used to treat breast cancer.
• It also plans to explore options for prequalifying insulin.

• Last month’s Food Price Index of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that global food commodity prices fell in April amid expectations of ongoing robust supplies of many key staples.
• Sugar, vegetable oil, cereal and dairy prices all fell, while meat rose 1.7 percent, as pig meat prices increased in response to strong domestic demand in the European Union and increased sales to China.