Any exit strategy for the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) must be tied to concrete improvements in the situation of people on the ground, a top United Nations peacekeeping official told the Security Council this morning.
As Côte d’Ivoire prepared to hold a presidential election in October, the renewal of mandate of the United Nations Operation in that country was crucial to the consolidation of the achievements made since the 2010 post-election crisis, the Security Council heard today.
The Security Council this morning extended the mandate of the Panel of Experts that assists the Committee monitoring sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear programme, until 9 July 2016, while keeping the mandate under review pending developments.
The military track as a means to end the crisis in Ukraine had not been abandoned, and a prospect of a return to a deepening, intractable conflict was emerging, the Security Council heard today following the recent escalation of hostilities in eastern parts of that country.
The International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia were downsizing as quickly as possible, top officials from those courts told the Security Council today, stressing that their impending closure and transition to a smaller successor body was an opportunity to both preserve and share lessons learned in the practice of international jurisprudence.
The Security Council this morning welcomed what it called “extraordinary efforts” by States to stem the flow of foreign terrorist fighters to and from conflict zones, while urging stepped-up work on the issue due to growing recruitment by extremist groups, from more than 100 countries.
Strongly condemning continued fighting, human rights abuses and attacks on the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, the Security Council this afternoon extended the Mission’s mandate for six months, sharpening its focus on protection of civilians, without changing force structure or numbers of troops and police.
Syria’s descent into “deeper depths of despair” over the past four years had surpassed what even the most pessimistic observers thought possible, the top United Nations humanitarian official told the Security Council today, urging the 15-member body to set aside its political differences and prevent the abandonment of Syrians to further hopelessness.
Strongly condemning impunity for attacks on journalists, which had greatly increased globally, the Security Council, during an all-day open debate today, called on parties to conflict and all Member States to create a safe environment “in law and practice” for media professionals to do their important work.
The Security Council this morning renewed the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) for just over 10 weeks, until 7 August, pending consideration of a review of regional and international efforts in the country.
