Reiterating the importance of convening a constitutional committee as a first step towards a political solution to the crisis in Syria, the Secretary‑General’s Special Envoy for that country told the Security Council today that the United Nations is open to any suggestions on the list of disputed attendees that allows inclusive participation by civil society.
Against the backdrop of a tenuous calm, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process today warned the Security Council that the Gaza Strip remains on the brink of an armed conflict that holds catastrophic consequences for some two million impoverished Palestinians living there.
Delivering impassioned pleas on behalf of 14 million civilians teetering on the edge of famine in Yemen, senior United Nations and civil society leaders today briefed a largely unified Security Council on political and humanitarian steps forward, emphasizing that a new “window of hope” has now opened in that country’s devastating and overlooked war.
With a new roadmap for peace in South Sudan facing persistent challenges, the integral involvement of women is vital, along with international support to ensure that the country’s leaders fulfil their responsibilities, the head of United Nations peacekeeping told the Security Council today.
Against a complex backdrop of expanding terrorist threats and mounting hopelessness in Africa’s Sahel region, several senior officials today urged the United Nations and other partners to boost their support to the regional force established to combat those threats, as they briefed the Security Council on recent developments.
Unanimously adopting resolution 2446 (2018), the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) for one month until 15 December, with the mandate being maintained as set out in resolution 2387 (2017).
The Security Council today decided to extend until 15 May 2019 the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) ‑ operating in an oil-rich contested area on the border of Sudan and South Sudan ‑ while simultaneously reducing the Mission’s military troops and increasing its police presence.
New momentum in talks between Serbia and Kosovo must be accompanied by the implementation of previous agreements and other measures to build trust between communities in Kosovo, the Secretary—General’s Special Representative told the Security Council today.
Hailing the recent and historic rapprochements in the Horn of Africa, the Security Council today decided to lift the arms embargo, travel ban, assets freeze and targeted sanctions previously imposed on Eritrea, while simultaneously renewing its sanctions imposed against neighbouring Somalia.
Despite an ongoing Ebola outbreak and continued attacks by armed groups, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is nevertheless on track to hold critical elections as planned on 23 December, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today, as delegates expressed hope that a peaceful handover of power could bring longed-for stability to some 85 million people.
