Outgoing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced his concerns this week that veto powers in the Security Council and consensus rule in general voting allow a single country to block resolutions, even when all other members support them. Ban said he has initiated reform proposals, but they have been blocked.

The UN Security Council will vote today on a proposed arms embargo against South Sudan, which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says is needed to reduce the risk of mass atrocities in the country. Eight of the 15 Security Council member countries, including all three African members, have expressed reservations about the resolution, which is expected to fail in today's vote.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians are still cut off from access to food, medicine and supplies, and combatants who use denial of food and aid as a weapon should be charged with war crimes, writes UN World Food Programme head Ertharin Cousin. While governments may need to wage wars, safe access to humanitarian aid should be ensured by all sides, and those guilty of blocking it should be punished appropriately, she argues.

A number of international crises that were overshadowed by other major events still need our attention, writes UN Assistant Secretary-General Izumi Nakamitsu. She notes that 65 million people around the world have been forcibly displaced, 6.3 million face crisis- or emergency-level food insecurity around Lake Chad, and humanitarian conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo continue to deteriorate.

Environmental experts say a number of climate change agreements signed this year, combined with a shift in investments from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, efforts to prepare for weather extremes, and business and local government initiatives suggest 2016 marks a transition from discussion to action on climate change.

Syrian authorities say they have regained control of Aleppo after more than four years of violent conflict, with rebel forces retreating to nearby countryside. The fighting has severely damaged tens of thousands of residences, and experts say reconstruction will cost tens of billions of dollars and take years.

In observance of Christmas, UN Wire will not publish Monday. Publication will resume Wednesday.

"Crucial" day for thousands fleeing Syria's Aleppo, says UN Envoy

"More than 300 communities across four West African countries with some of the world's highest rates of female genital mutilation are this month declaring themselves free of the practice in public ceremonies, a campaign group said on Tuesday."

@UNFoundation: Fact: the #ParisAgreement was signed, formally joined, and entered into force in only 11 months since its adoption. http://ow.ly/XU0V307ff72