The mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) had not yet been fulfilled, Martin Kobler, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the Mission told the Security Council today, stressing that “we have a duty and responsibility to ensure that the Congo is secure and stable, and that the progress that has been attained thus far will be irreversible.”
The path to peace in Mali was fraught with unexpected obstacles, and implementation of the peace agreement had been delayed by violations of the ceasefire agreements and actions by terrorist groups and trans-border criminal elements, Mongi Hamdi, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Mali and head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) told the Security Council this morning.
Rampant instability and terrorism in the Middle East and North Africa could only be stemmed through a united, comprehensive approach that addressed root causes, speakers stressed to the Security Council today in an all-day high-level open debate presided over by the Russian Foreign Minister with a briefing by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Emphasizing the need for continued progress on constitutional and institutional reform in Liberia, the Security Council today renewed the mandate of the United Nations mission there until 30 September 2016, continuing the drawdown in advance of that country’s expected assumption of full responsibility for security by the middle of next year.
As the threats faced by Afghanistan’s war-weary people did not all emanate from their own territory, they were entitled to international support, particularly from the region, in dealing with those pressing challenges, the top United Nations official in that country told the Security Council today.
The Security Council must not escape its responsibility to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict, as human suffering in that country had worsened, not diminished, a United Nations senior humanitarian affairs official told the 15-nation body today.
Sanctions imposed on Iran under successive Security Council resolutions remained in full effect until the 15-member body received confirmation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the country had taken a set of nuclear-related actions in accordance with resolution 2231 (2015), the head of the designated sanctions committee said today.
With fresh violence erupting around the holy sites of the Old City of Jerusalem, Israelis and Palestinians should not let fear triumph, but should create conducive conditions for resuming peace negotiations, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today.
Affirming the importance of the work of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) to facilitate a nationally led political solution to the country’s increasing challenges, the Security Council this afternoon extended the Mission’s mandate until 15 March 2016.
With Liberia having turned a corner from its unprecedented Ebola health emergency, the people and Government now had the important work of continuing to build a unified and reconciled nation fully responsible for its own destiny, the top United Nations peacekeeping official told the Security Council today.
