Tag: 2026

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 8 April 2026.

Statement by Archie Young, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict.

In conflict and crises around the world, humanitarian and UN personnel are often the first to arrive and the last to leave, risking their lives to save others. 

2024 was the deadliest year on record, with 383 aid workers killed. 

In 2025, over 320 were killed. And, already, in 2026, the devastation continues with aid workers killed across the Middle East, the DRC, and Sudan. 

This cannot continue.

The United Kingdom was proud to co-sponsor Resolution 2730 in May 2024. 

We hoped it would mark a turning point. 

Instead, threats to humanitarian personnel have intensified. 

We must act urgently.

Resolution 2730 must be implemented fully, without delay. 

In all humanitarian crises, local personnel bear the greatest risk. 

In Yemen, local humanitarian personnel remain arbitrarily detained. 

We reiterate calls for their immediate and unconditional release. 

In Sudan, local aid workers continue to sustain the response amid relentless insecurity, obstruction, and violence. 

And in Gaza, the overwhelming majority of the more than 589 aid workers killed since 7 October 2023 were local staff, including 391 UNRWA staff. 

Behind every aid worker killed is a family and a community left grieving.

President, implementation of resolution 2730 requires sustained investment in practical protection to keep humanitarian workers safe. 

This includes civil-military coordination, robust security and duty of care, and consistent support to frontline agencies. 

The UK supports global platforms such as INSO, the Global Interagency Security Forum and the Aid Worker Security Database, alongside our support to frontline agencies, and we urge others to do the same. 

We must also address emerging risks. 

The growing use of Uncrewed Aerial Systems by those not acting within the confines of international humanitarian law is making fragile environments even more dangerous. 

This has had fatal consequences in the DRC, Sudan, and Ukraine. 

Disinformation further erodes trust and shrinks humanitarian space. 

We must call out disinformation and counter false narratives that endanger those delivering lifesaving assistance.

Finally, International humanitarian law must be upheld by all parties to armed conflict. 

The UK is proud to co-chair a workstream under the ICRC’s Global International Humanitarian Law Initiative and to have co-launched, with Australia, the Political Declaration on the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel. 

We call for full compliance with IHL and for transparent, timely investigations when aid workers are harmed. 

Two years since the World Central Kitchen strike in Gaza, in which three British nationals were killed, we are still waiting for Israel to conclude and publish its findings into this attack. 

Israel has a responsibility to provide answers as to how and why this happened. 

President, we must honour the dedication of those on the front lines by showing the same level of commitment in our actions. 

Resolution 2730 must be more than a paper promise; it must be a practical priority and implemented fully by all.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 8 April 2026.

The FCDO has released a statement following ballistic missile launches by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on 8 April.

An FCDO spokesperson said:

DPRK’s ballistic missile launches on 8 April are another breach of UN Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs), destabilising regional peace and security.

The UK continues to urge DPRK to stop provocations, to engage in meaningful diplomacy and return to dialogue.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 April 2026.

UK Explanation of Vote delivered by Ambassador Archie Young, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East.

No country should be allowed to hold the world’s economy hostage.

Yet that is exactly what Iran is doing, by denying the right of transit passage, a key navigational right under international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Today, Russia and China chose to shield their ally, Iran, rather than join international efforts to open the Strait and avert risks to the global economy.

We reject the claims made by Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi last week that the efforts by the Council to open the Strait will ‘complicate the situation’. 

It is Iran’s actions that have closed the Strait. 

This has already had dire consequences, and the longer this stranglehold continues, the worse the situation will get. 

In the last 24 hours, we have heard only nine vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz, an international shipping route that would normally see up to 150 vessels a day.

 The World Food Programme has estimated that this hostile act could push 45 million more people into extreme hunger by June.

We supported Bahrain’s initiative, and it is deeply regrettable that this resolution did not pass.

The United Kingdom is already supporting our allies in the Gulf to defend themselves, in accordance with the existing and inherent right to individual and collective self-defence.

We all want to see the de-escalation of tensions in the Strait, and we welcome current diplomatic efforts underway and stress the importance of respect for international law, including the international law of the sea as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

As my Foreign Secretary said last week, when the UK convened over 40 countries in support of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, we are determined to see every possible diplomatic, economic, and coordinated measure to get the straits reopened. 

We will not cease in these efforts.