Chair of Somalia Sanctions Committee Briefs Security Council on Meetings concerning Humanitarian Assistance, Weapons Management, Charcoal Ban
The Security Council entity overseeing sanctions on Somalia recently met twice for informal discussions on delivery of humanitarian assistance, maritime security, countering terrorism financing, security, and weapons and ammunition management and tracing, its Chair reported today.
Ishikane Kimihiro (Japan), Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolution 751 (1992) concerning Al-Shabaab, briefed the 15 member organ on the Committee’s work covering the period of 16 June to 17 October.
He said that the Committee’s members, on 28 September, met to hear briefings, respectively, by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The Panel of Experts on Somalia also participated in these briefings as an observer. Two related written reports were transmitted to the Council after the briefings, with the report of the Emergency Relief Coordinator issued as document S/2023/720.
He said that briefing by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs focused on delivery of humanitarian assistance in Somalia and any impediments to it, while UNODC’s briefing covered maritime security and countering terrorism financing in Somalia. UNODC representatives covered the implementation of the charcoal ban and management of charcoal stockpiles, enhancing regional cooperation on illicit maritime flows, fisheries protection and disrupting Al-Shabaab operations and finances.
On 29 September, the Panel of Experts gave a presentation to the Committee on its final report, and to discuss the recommendations contained therein. This report was also subsequently transmitted to the Council and issued as document S/2023/724. The Chair said that the Committee was informed of the security situation in Somalia and the work conducted by the Panel on weapons and ammunition management, tracing weapons and ammunition captured from Al-Shabaab, and implementation of the one-off exemption to the charcoal ban according to resolution 2696 (2023). He added that, in its final report, the Panel made nine recommendations. “Four are addressed to the Security Council and five to the Committee,” he said. He noted that the Committee is currently “considering the recommendations addressed to it”.
He said that the Committee communicated with Member States and United Nations bodies on various matters. It sent letters to Somalia in connection with recommendations contained in the Panel’s first thematic update and the Panel’s midterm update, as well as on Somalia’s proposal for the one-off disposal of the charcoal stockpile by export. He added that the Committee requested, and received, clarification from Bulgaria on an advance delivery notification submitted by it.
He said that, on 17 August, the Secretary-General appointed the humanitarian expert for the Panel of Experts, a position that had been vacant since the beginning of the mandate, and the Panel is now at its full authorized strength of six experts.