Security Council: No name

The Nobel Committee has awarded this year’s Peace Prize to the United Nation World Food Programme (WFP).  The Secretary-General congratulates David Beasley, WFP’s Executive Director, as well as the agency’s entire staff.  The Programme is on the frontlines of food insecurity, serving the most vulnerable of the world.

On 8 October 2020, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities approved the addition of the entry specified below to its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2368 (2017), and adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations:

In the tumultuous weeks following Mali’s most recent coup d’état, robust regional leadership and a new transition plan have emerged as promising signs that the country can emerge from its “hellish cycle” of mistrust, violence and repeated Government overthrows, a senior United Nations told the Security Council today.

With the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) having successfully adjusted to COVID-19, its leader called for continued international support to help the country meet the challenges posed by armed groups and political tension, amid intensified planning for the Mission’s drawdown.

Despite some of its work remaining curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is pressing forward with efforts to verify the destruction of Syria’s stockpiles and production facilities, the senior United Nations disarmament official told the Security Council today, as members diverged sharply over procedural matters.

Haiti’s political and socioeconomic future hinges on the ability of that country’s political and economic classes to resolve their differences without resorting to violence, the head of the United Nations special political mission there told the Security Council during a 5 October video teleconference meeting.

Condemning all migrant smuggling and human trafficking off the coast of Libya today, the Security Council renewed for another year its authorization for Member States to inspect vessels outside that country’s territorial waters, when there are reasonable grounds to believe they are participating in those illicit activities.

The Security Council will hold several signature debates in October — including one to mark the twentieth anniversary of its landmark resolution 1325 (2000), and another to exchange views on the situation in the Persian Gulf — its President for the month said during a Headquarters press briefing today.

The recent normalization of relations between Israel and two Arab countries presents an opportunity to re-engage Palestine and Israel in negotiations towards a two-State solution to their long-standing conflict, a senior United Nations mediator told the Security Council today.

On the heels of considerable political progress in Sudan, the global community should help the country weave together its patchwork of recent peace agreements into a “single, unfractured vision of the future”, senior officials said today, as they briefed the Security Council on latest developments.