Security Council: Meetings Coverage

The Security Council this afternoon welcomed the election of the new President of Lebanon, Michel Aoun, urging him and other leaders to swiftly form a new Government and take other steps to promote the country’s stability.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Joint Investigative Mechanism, the body mandated to determine responsibility for the use of chemical weapons in Syria, until 18 November.

The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen told the Security Council today that he had presented the parties with a comprehensive road map to end the conflict, consistent with Security Council resolution 2216 (2015), the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and its Implementation Mechanism, and the Outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference.

The United Nations was committed to strengthening its partnership with regional organizations in Eurasia and Central Asia on peace and security matters, even though their strategies may sometimes differ, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council today.

Evoking the “apocalyptic horror” of bombed and besieged Aleppo, the senior United Nations humanitarian official pleaded with the Security Council today to take the minimum action necessary to finally allow wide-spread humanitarian access and end the slaughter in Syria.

Despite the vital role of women in preventing conflict and helping to forge peace, they were far too often prevented from participating fully in peacemaking processes to the detriment of society as a whole, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council today, as it began a day-long open debate on the subject.

Citing outbreaks of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, Israeli settlement activity, Palestinian political turmoil and militant activity, along with continued suffering in Gaza, speakers in a day-long debate at the Security Council warned that, regardless of other conflict in the region, the situation must not be ignored.

The threat posed by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) might become a growing challenge to international peace and security as the military operations against the group continued to make progress, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs told the Security Council today.

The Security Council this morning renewed the mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) without major changes in its configuration or objectives for six months, until 15 April 2017.

Briefing the Security Council on the situation in Haiti, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in that country said the category-four Hurricane Matthew had made landfall in the nation on 4 October, causing death, wide-spread damage, flooding and displacement.