Security Council: Meetings Coverage

The Security Council today adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) until 15 September 2019 under the leadership of the Secretary‑General’s Special Representative.

The more than $7 billion spent annually on United Nations peacekeeping operations must achieve its best possible value on the ground, speakers emphasized today, as the Security Council considered how best to improve mission performance and hold failures accountable.

Amid escalating violence and lack of participation by one party in Yemen’s recently relaunched peace talks, the international community must commit to supporting dialogue, protecting civilians and preventing the country’s further decline into chaos, the senior United Nations official tasked with shepherding the negotiations stressed today as he briefed the Security Council.

By violating the last de‑escalation zone in the Syria conflict, the Russian Federation and Iran are not demonstrating a commitment to protecting civilian lives, and it is absurd to think the world will pay for reconstruction as they pummel Idlib, the representative of the United States told the Security Council today.

In its first‑ever meeting to address the links between corruption and conflict, the Security Council today considered ways to effectively disrupt the illicit siphoning of money by leaders and other practices that weaken State institutions, thereby making a country susceptible to conflict.

The Syrian Government and its partners — currently poised at the brink of a massive military strike against the north‑west province of Idlib — must urgently rethink its strategy, the Security Council heard today, as delegates sounded the alarm about such repercussions as mass civilian casualties and the flood of up to 700,000 refugees into neighbouring countries, Europe and beyond.

Despite progress being made, not only was the international community’s confidence in Syria’s full elimination of its chemical weapons programme dependent upon the United Nations being able to close outstanding issues, but the lack of an accountability mechanism was a missing step in taking to task those responsible for using chemical weapons, a senior United Nations disarmament official told the Security Council today.

The United Kingdom’s delegate, in an emergency session today, briefed the Security Council on her country’s decision to bring charges against two nationals of the Russian Federation in connection with the reported Salisbury nerve agent attack, prompting the latter to reject those allegations as a vehicle for “anti‑Russian hysteria” and part of a “post-truth world” crafted by Western countries.

As the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH) prepares for the transition to a non-peacekeeping presence, beginning in October 2019, challenges, including the recent protest against planned fuel price hikes, continue to impede progress made, exposing the fragility of that country’s security and socioeconomic situation and demonstrating the need for strong rule of law legislation, a senior official told the Security Council today.

A fragile peace is in place in Libya following the recent outbreak of violence in Tripoli and the brokering of a ceasefire agreement, the senior United Nations official in that country said today while briefing the Security Council.