Security Council: Meetings Coverage

The Security Council today reiterated its strong condemnation of the recruitment and use of children by parties to armed conflict, as well as their killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence.

Despite progress in the de‑escalation of fighting in certain parts of Syria, civilian suffering, as well as impediments to aid delivery, continued, the United Nations top humanitarian official told the Security Council this afternoon, stressing it was crucial to ensure that cross-border delivery of aid was maintained.

Innovative actions would be needed to support the Joint Force of the Group of Five for the Sahel (Sahel G-5) countries (Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Niger) as well as development efforts, United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres told the Security Council this morning, stressing that the situation in that region was a challenge for all.

Normative frameworks had been established and global awareness of the urgency of ending sexual atrocities and empowering women in conflict situations was growing, but progress on the ground must be accelerated, speakers told the Security Council in an all-day debate today.

Briefing the Security Council on the situation between Sudan and South Sudan today, a senior peacekeeping official recommended that it extend the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) for another six months.

Last week’s Security Council field mission saw evidence of great determination among regional actors in the Sahel to overcome security challenges through deployment of the internationally‑endorsed regional force, its leaders said in the Council Chamber this afternoon.

The Secretary‑General’s Special Envoy for Syria announced his intention to convene the eighth round of intra‑Syrian talks in Geneva on 28 November in his briefing to the Security Council today.

Following a negative vote cast by the Russian Federation today, the Security Council failed to renew the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), formed to determine the perpetrators of chemical-weapons attacks in Syria.

Despite the overall negative trajectory that had characterized the Israeli‑Palestinian conflict for far too long, there were reasons for cautious optimism, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs told the Security Council today as the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question, was addressed in an all‑day debate that heard from more than forty speakers.

With regional forces being deployed in South Sudan to strengthen civilian protection, that country’s leaders still bore direct responsibility to end the bloodshed through efforts to reinvigorate the political process, the United Nations peacekeeping chief stressed to the Security Council today.