News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

27 September 2013 - Deeply outraged by the use of chemical weapons on 21 August in a Damascus suburb, as concluded by a United Nations investigation team, the Security Council this evening endorsed the expeditious destruction of Syria's chemical weapons programme, with inspections to begin by 1…

27 September 2013 - The OPCW Executive Council today adopted a historic decision [PDF - 28 KB] on the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons. In a special session, the 41-member body agreed on an accelerated programme for achieving the complete elimination of Syria's chemical weapons by mid-2014…

6 February 2014 - Secretary-General speaks at joint press-conference regarding 30 June 2014 deadline for the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons program Excerpts from press conference >>

Excerpt from the opening statement relating to the OPCW-UN Joint Mission work during the Secretary-General's first press conference in 2014.

13 December 2013 - On a scale of 1 to 10, the fact-finding mission in Syria had achieved 8.7, the chief of the mission charged with verifying the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria said at a Headquarters press conference today. [ webcast ] Åke Sellström, Head of the United Nations Mission to…

4 December 2013 - Security Council media stakeout

30 November 2013 - Press statement by Sigrid Kaag, Special Coordinator, OPCW-UN Joint Mission, Damascus Check against delivery Good morning, Thank you all for coming together today. I have had a very productive week here in Damascus and I am pleased to be able to talk to you before going to the…

5 November 2013 - Security Council media stakeout Speaking to the press at UN Headquarters in New York following her first briefing to the Security Council, Sigrid Kaag, Special Coordinator of the OPCW-UN Joint Mission overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons programme, said she had…

23 October 2013 - Press conference by the Head of OPCW Media and Public Affairs [Transcript]

16 October 2013 - Daily press briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General (formal launch of the Joint Mission, establishment of the Trust Funds, appointment of the Special Coordinator) [near-verbatim transcript]

20 March 2014 - As of today 53.6% of the Syrian Arab Republic's chemical weapons material has been removed from or destroyed in the Syrian Arab Republic. This represents important progress. The Joint Mission welcomes the momentum attained and encourages the Syrian Arab Republic to sustain the…

5 March 2014 – A recent acceleration of efforts by Syria and the submission of a revised timeline for removing toxic agents bode well for meeting the 30 June 2014 deadline for destroying the country's chemical weapons programme, the official charged with overseeing the venture said today after…