Security Council: Meetings Coverage

Israel had moved forward with illegal settlement activity at a high rate since late June further dashing hopes for a two-State solution, the United Nations top envoy for the Middle East peace process told the Security Council today.

The de-escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula should flow from the lessons generated by the diplomacy that shaped the agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme, speakers in the Security Council said today.

The Security Council today asked the Secretary-General to establish an independent investigative team to support domestic efforts to hold Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) accountable for its actions in Iraq.

The “primacy of politics” — including through mediation, ceasefire monitoring and assisting in the implementation of peace accords — should be the hallmark of the United Nations approach to resolving conflict, by the terms of a resolution adopted by the Security Council today.

While moving forward with its reconfiguration efforts, the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) remained focused on the implementation of its key strategic priorities, including the protection of civilians, the Security Council heard today as it took up the Secretary-General’s latest report on that mission (document S/2017/776).

The Security Council today approved the Secretary-General’s recommendations regarding the size, operational aspects and mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia.

The Security Council decided unanimously today to extend the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) until 15 September 2018 as an integrated special political mission.

Recent progress against Boko Haram notwithstanding, Africa’s Lake Chad Basin continued to suffer a “staggering” and under-funded humanitarian crisis, the United Nations political affairs chief told the Security Council today, warning that Governments across the region had been forced to divert already scarce resources to fight terrorism and other security challenges.

Hard-won Gains in Somalia could be swept away without predictable funding to ensure continued support for joint efforts to stamp out the Al-Shabaab terrorist group, as well as corruption and instability, the Security Council heard today.

Expressing deep concern about the political impasse in Guinea-Bissau, the Security Council today called upon the West African nation’s leaders to engage in genuine dialogue, find common ground and implement the Conakry Agreement of 14 October 2016, including by appointing a consensus Prime Minister, as required by that accord.