Security Council: Meetings Coverage

The Security Council today renewed for one year sanctions imposed by resolution 2374 (2017) concerning Mali, also extending until 30 September 2019 the mandate of the expert panel established to monitor their implementation.

With conflicts taking on transnational dimensions, peace agreements growing more elusive and political will waning, the United Nations must be “bold and creative” in harnessing the avenues and capacities available for mediation, Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council today in an open debate on the topic.

One year after the start of the Rohingya refugee crisis, the Security Council considered today the report issued by the independent fact-finding mission dispatched to that country, which alleges that national security forces committed gross human rights violations and abuses that “undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law”.

Escalating military clashes and renewed air strikes in north‑west Syria — especially Idlib Governorate, covered under an international “de‑escalation zone” agreement — represent a worrying trend, threatening some 3 million residents as well as the already fragile delivery of aid, a senior United Nations humanitarian official told the Security Council today.

With fewer than four months remaining until critical elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Security Council members today urged that country’s Government to resolve outstanding disputes, build trust among the participating parties and avoid any actions that could jeopardize the nation’s first peaceful democratic transfer of power.

Despite suffering “significant” losses, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) has morphed from a regional group into a covert global network, with a weakened yet enduring core in Iraq and Syria, the head of United Nations counter-terrorism told the Security Council today.

Warning that fuel and medicine are in “dangerously short supply” in the Gaza Strip, the senior United Nations political affairs official urged international donors today to boost their aid deliveries, while calling on Israelis and Palestinians to exercise maximum restraint amid the recent spate of violence.

The Security Council, noting the Secretary-General’s recommendation that the mandate of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) be extended for another three years from 1 September, requested today that he conduct a strategic review of the Office’s mandate and activities.

Noting the increased demands on the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWAS), the Security Council today underscored the need for adequate resources, while reiterating its concern about the region’s challenging security situation, notably threats posed by terrorism and transnational organized crime.

The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Burundi asked the Security Council today to appeal to all sides in the East African nation to participate — in good faith — in a fifth and potentially final inter‑Burundi dialogue that would build on recent developments and, hopefully, take place as soon as possible.