Briefing on the heels of the Security Council’s recent visit to Africa’s Lake Chad Basin — beset by development challenges, looming famine and the brutal tactics of Boko Haram — the mission’s co-Chairs emphasized today the need for an enhanced and holistic response to the subregion’s largely neglected crisis.
The Secretary-General’s briefing on his participation in the African Union Summit was among the highlights of a February densely packed with meetings and discussions, Security Council President Volodymyr Yelchenko (Ukraine) told fellow members during an end-of-month “wrap up” meeting today.
Following the casting of vetoes by two of its five permanent members, the Security Council failed to adopt a draft resolution today that would have imposed sanctions on entities and individuals deemed to be involved in the production or use of chemical weapons in Syria.
Heightened tensions between Serbia and Kosovo had reduced the space for political dialogue, a process that was as fragile as it was essential, the senior United Nations official in the Balkans region told the Security Council today.
The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) for one year today, reaffirming its full commitment to the consolidation of peace and stability in that country.
The Security Council today renewed for one year a targeted arms embargo, travel ban and assets freeze against individuals and entities designated by the Committee established pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014) on Yemen.
Genuine political commitment to peace in Syria would be needed if 2017 was to offer any prospect other than the death and destruction of the past six years, the head of United Nations humanitarian affairs told the Security Council today.
Voicing deep concern over regional conflicts, radicalization and violent extremism, the Chair-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) today stressed the need to foster open and constructive dialogue in seeking common solutions to threats.
Peace must never be taken for granted in Europe, where simmering conflicts could potentially impact security on a global scale, speakers in the Security Council said today, during an open debate that cast a particular spotlight on the situation in Ukraine.
The Middle East continued to be plagued by extremism, bloodshed and displacement that spread intolerance, violence and religious radicalism far beyond the region, the Secretary-General’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today, urging both the Israeli and Palestinian sides to contemplate carefully the future they envisioned for their respective peoples.
