Noting that the ongoing political crisis and escalating violence in eastern Ukraine was a top priority for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), its newly installed Chairperson-in-Office today urged full adherence to the ceasefire between Ukraine and pro-separatist Russian forces to facilitate the withdrawal by both sides of heavy weapons and equipment from the area and other steps agreed to earlier in the month.
The Security Council this morning extended for one year sanctions on those threatening stability in Yemen, as well as the mandate of the Panel of Experts who assist the committee that oversees those measures.
As the United Nations approached its seventieth anniversary, the Charter tenet of national sovereignty remained valid, but a State’s responsibility for its people and its participation in global cooperation were also increasingly vital, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed as he opened a day-long Security Council debate this morning.
Welcoming the significant progress made by Burundi since the adoption of the Arusha Agreement in 2000 in restoring security and stability, the Security Council today noted that challenges remained to be overcome to prevent a reversal of such improvement, especially in the context of the 2015 elections.
“Horrific and brutal” acts of terrorism in Libya had “shaken our collective conscience” and must prompt swift action in support of the political process there, said the United Nations top official in that country as he briefed the Security Council this afternoon.
Failing to rectify persistent governance and security issues in Gaza and the slow pace of reconstruction six months after the conflict with Israel had fostered an increasingly worrisome “toxic” environment, a top United Nations official told the Security Council today.
By a unanimous vote this morning, the Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) for a period of 12 months, welcoming recent progress made towards the country’s peace, security and stability.
Expressing the Security Council’s grave concern at the tragic events and violence in eastern regions of Ukraine, the 15-member body today unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing last week’s ceasefire agreement.
Despite a year-long security crisis and amidst ongoing humanitarian concerns in Iraq, there was now cause for “paranoid optimism” in the Middle Eastern country, Special Representative to the Secretary-General for Iraq Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council today.
The Security Council today demanded that Houthi rebels in Yemen “immediately and unconditionally” withdraw from Government institutions, safely release President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and all others from house arrest, and engage in good faith in United Nations-brokered negotiations designed to keep the fracturing Middle Eastern country on a steady path towards democratic transition.
