Security Council: Meetings Coverage

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) for a final period until 30 March 2018.

The Security Council voted this morning against imposing an arms embargo on South Sudan and targeted sanctions on three key Government and opposition figures whose dispute has spiralled into widespread violence in the young nation.

14 Delegations in Favour of Resolution 2334 (2016) as United States Abstains

The Security Council reaffirmed this afternoon that Israel’s establishment of settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, had no legal validity, constituting a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the vision of two States living side-by-side in peace and security, within internationally recognized borders.

Expressing outrage at the “unacceptable and escalating” violence in Syria, the Security Council today reiterated its demand that all parties, in particular the Syrian authorities, immediately comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

Authorities in the Gambia must respect the results of the recent presidential election, the Security Council said today, while also commending the initiatives of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in support of that goal.

The Security Council condemned in the strongest terms today all instances of human trafficking in areas affected by armed conflict as it heard from more than 70 speakers during a day-long open debate on the subject.

The deteriorating situation in South Sudan, one of the world’s most urgent crises, was on the brink of a cataclysmic event, and the responsibility for that tragic state of affairs lay squarely with the leaders of that country, top United Nations officials warned the Security Council today.

While great progress had been made in Afghanistan, a better future for that country would not be possible without an inclusive peace process that involved Afghans from all strata of society, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) told the Security Council today.

The Security Council today renewed the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) for a period of six months until 30 June 2017, and requested that the Secretary-General ensure the Force had the required capacity and resources to fulfil its mandate in a safe and secure way. 

Reiterating its request to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to complete its work and facilitate its closure as expeditiously as possible, the Security Council today unanimously adopted resolution 2329 (2016).