According to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon [official website], world leaders meeting at the United Nations will focus heavily [UN News Centre] upon the Syria conflict, refugees and the environment on Monday. Particularly, the Secretary General said the talks need to facilitate “progress in resolving protracted conflicts and rising tensions in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East” and “continue the momentum towards implementing…our plan of action for peace and prosperity on a healthy planet.” The Secretary General was adamant that the international community must address the world’s refugees and migrants, a step they believe has been taken by the adoption of the Declaration at the Summit for Refugees and Migrants [official website]. He also expressed that “while many conflicts are causing enormous pain, none is causing so much death, destruction and widespread instability as the worsening war in Syria,” calling for continued intra-Syrian negotiations. Finally, Ban pushed for the entry into force of the Paris Agreement on climate change by the end of the year.

The conflict in Syria [JURIST backgrounder] has continued for five years in a civil war surrounding the legitimacy of Assad. Last week a UN commission on Syria urged [JURIST report] parties in the Syrian conflict to return to the “negotiation table” after a new report highlighted an increase of violence suffered by civilians. In August a top UN official submitted a report detailing an in-depth investigation into chemical warfare [JURIST report] used by Islamic State and Assad in Syria. That same month Amnesty International said that a suspected chlorine gas attack in Aleppo could amount to a war crime [JURIST report]. In July Human Rights Watch reported [JURIST report] cluster bombs have been targeted at civilians and rebels in Northern Syria. In June UN human rights experts called for the immediate protection [JURIST report] of thousands of Syrian civilians.