Security Council: Meetings Coverage

The Security Council failed today to adopt two competing draft resolutions — one from the Russian Federation, the other from the United States — responding to the political and humanitarian situation in Venezuela.

The Security Council today decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) for a further 12 months to 28 February 2020 and endorsed the Secretary-General’s recommendations for its reconfiguration with a view to its closure by the end of that year.

The Security Council adopted a resolution today that outlines steps leading towards the goal of ending conflict in Africa through enhanced international cooperation and partnership as well as robust support for peace operations led by the African Union.

The Security Council returned today to the political and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela for the second time in as many months, with speakers debating whether to press for free and fair elections under international supervision or to encourage the Government of President Nicolás Maduro to open dialogue with the opposition, free of external interference.

The Security Council, on a recent field visit to Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea‑Bissau, urged stakeholders in those countries to continue down the path of dialogue while gleaning lessons and best practices from several successful post‑conflict transitions in the region.

Gravely concerned about serious suffering among civilians in Syria, exacerbated by severe weather, flooding and a spike in fighting, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator briefed the Security Council today, underlining the urgency of facilitating aid deliveries and preventing a humanitarian catastrophe.

The Security Council today authorized a one-year extension of the financial and travel bans that have been in place since February 2014 against individuals or entities threatening the peace, security and stability of Yemen.

The country-wide state of emergency in Sudan declared by its President on 22 February puts a question mark over the peace process in Darfur and plans to draw down the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission there by the middle of 2020, the Security Council heard today.

Amid a precarious humanitarian situation, the Central African Republic needs robust international support now more than ever before, as the country edges towards peace after the signing of a new peace agreement, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and other senior United Nations and international officials told the Security Council today.

The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process called today for leadership and political will among both Israelis and Palestinians, warning that rising extremism and the risk of war are eroding the viability of a two-State solution to the conflict.