Libya is on the verge of a civil war that could split the country permanently, the senior United Nations official in that country warned the Security Council today, as that body’s members sounded the alarm over the rapid proliferation of weapons and the prospect of a major humanitarian catastrophe.
The Security Council decided today against holding a meeting requested by the Russian Federation to discuss the situation in Ukraine, with six members voting against and five in favour, with four abstentions.
The Security Council must ensure it remains vigilant against terrorist threats by updating the sanctions list of individuals and entities engaging in such activities, members said today during a joint briefing by the chairs of three of the Council’s subsidiary counter-terrorism bodies.
Escalating violence in north-western Syria threatens to trigger a humanitarian catastrophe that would affect more than 3 million people in the country’s Idlib Governorate, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today, warning that a full military incursion would overwhelm all ability to respond.
Amid the spate of terrorist attacks and the uptick in intercommunal violence in Africa’s Sahel region, top security and peacebuilding officials called upon the Security Council today to support efforts to make the G5 Sahel Joint Force fully operational by ensuring it receives sustainable and predicable funding and resources.
With Yemen “at the crossroads between war and peace”, both sides of the conflict in that country must set aside their differences and move towards a lasting political settlement, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today.
The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) until 15 November today, deciding also to reduce its authorized troop ceiling to 3,550 and increase its authorized police ceiling to 640 personnel, including 148 individual police officers.
With clashes continuing across Libya amid persisting impunity for war crimes, urgent action is needed to end the hostilities and ensure a return to negotiations on restoring peace and justice, the International Criminal Court’s Chief Prosecutor told the Security Council today.
The senior United Nations official in Bosnia and Herzegovina urged the Federation’s leaders today to abandon destabilizing and divisive rhetoric, create governments at the local, state and federal levels, and keep the country moving forward along the path to integration with the European Union.
The Security Council underscored the importance of peacekeeping as one of the most effective tools available to the United Nations in the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security.
