The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) for another year today, maintaining its 13,289 troops and 1,920 police personnel while requesting that the Secretary-General expedite the generation of forces and assets.
Nearly three years after its unanimous endorsement by the Security Council, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear issue was at a crossroads in the wake of the decision by the United States to withdraw from that agreement, the top United Nations official for political matters told the 15-nation organ today.
The Special Envoy for Syria warned the Security Council today that a full-scale battle in the country’s previously calm south-west could engulf an area and population the size of eastern Ghouta and Aleppo combined, adding that events seemed to be moving in that direction.
The Security Council decided today to re-appoint Serge Brammertz of Belgium as Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals for a term beginning on 1 July 2018 and ending on 30 June 2020.
There were unprecedented opportunities for Afghanistan to seek peace and consolidate its political foundation, the Special Representative for that country told the Security Council today, pressing the international community to seize that critical opening to adjust how it supported the war-torn nation in bringing about democracy and self-reliance.
Security Council members, particularly those with permanent seats, must overcome their differences and unite to tackle a complex web of conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, speakers said during a day-long debate in which several Member States suggested the creation of a regional mechanism — styled on the 1975 Helsinki Final Act — to foster dialogue and build trust.
The Security Council today, meeting independently from but concurrently with the General Assembly, elected Yuji Iwasawa (Japan) to the International Court of Justice for a nine‑year term, beginning today until 5 February 2021.
It was not too late to stop clashes among armed groups seeking to exploit natural resources from eroding progress towards building an effective, accountable and inclusive State in the Central African Republic, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today, warning about the risk of escalating violence and increased suffering inflicted on the strife-torn nation’s population.
The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court pressed the Security Council today to play a more active role in supporting the arrest and transfer of those suspected of mass-atrocity crimes in Darfur, a situation it had referred to The Hague-based tribunal more than 13 years ago.
Given the iconic nature of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the interconnected nature of disputes throughout the region, creating the conditions for the parties to return to meaningful bilateral negotiations remained critical, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today.
