Africa has articulated a clear and compelling vision for its representation on the Security Council, that body heard today at a historic high-level debate on enhancing the continent’s effective participation in the United Nations organ tasked with maintenance of peace and security.
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Security Council: Meetings Coverage
The Security Council today extended its authorization of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) by three days, until 15 August 2024, expressing grave concern that Al-Shabaab continues to pose a serious threat to the peace, security and stability of Somalia and the region.
The complex terrorism landscape, with terrorist groups expanding in West Africa and the Sahel, and improving capabilities in Afghanistan, calls for robust counter-terrorism efforts, State cooperation and human-rights centered approaches, the Security Council heard today at a briefing on the Secretary-General’s biannual report on the threat posed by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh).
The grave situation in Sudan offers fundamental lessons for drawdowns and terminations of United Nations peacekeeping missions in other transition contexts where women’s lives are at stake — such as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Somalia and Haiti — the Security Council heard today, as delegates underscored the need to integrate a gender perspective into all components of peace missions.
Halting famine in Sudan requires political will and leadership, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as speakers urged the warring parties to heed the international community’s repeated calls to stop fighting and avoid a further deterioration of the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
The Security Council today authorized the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) to provide operational, technical and logistical assistance to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the country.
The international community must tackle the climate of impunity that is fuelling mass violence in Sudan, the Security Council heard today as it considered the work of the International Criminal Court in investigating crimes committed in that country.
Alarmed by this morning’s killing of Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which comes on the heels of several recent escalatory events in the Middle East, the UN top political affairs official called today for diplomatic efforts to change the region’s trajectory towards peace and stability.
The Security Council today lifted the arms embargo on the Central African Republic, also deciding that, until 31 July 2025, all Member States shall take the necessary measures to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of arms and related materiel of all types to armed groups and associated individuals operating in that country.
Decrying legislative and physical attacks against the United Nations agency providing the backbone for the humanitarian response in Gaza, two senior UN officials urged the Security Council today to act in the face of flagrant violation of international humanitarian law in the Strip, as Council members discussed ways to address the catastrophe unfolding there.