Marking the one-year anniversary of the outbreak of conflict in South Sudan, which has killed tens of thousands, the Security Council today demanded that the clashing leaders in the young country fully implement agreements to end the hostilities, and reiterated its intention to consider measures against those impeding the peace process.
Recognizing that the Ebola outbreak had slowed national reforms, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia until 30 September 2015, outlining priorities in the areas of civilian protection, humanitarian assistance support, justice and security body reforms, human rights promotion and protection, and protection of United Nations personnel.
Underscoring the importance of continued international support for Afghanistan, the Security Council today welcomed the agreement between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Afghan Government to establish a post‑2014 non-combat mission in that country to aid national defence and security forces.
As the situation in Darfur continued to deteriorate, crimes were being committed there with greater brutality, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court told the Security Council this morning in her semi-annual briefing, urging the 15-member body to define a new approach to addressing the issues arising from the conflict.
Weak institutions, cyclical environmental shocks, vast ungoverned spaces, fragile economies and poverty had contributed to suffering and created conditions for transnational criminal organizations in the Sahel, the Security Council heard today, as the Secretary‑General’s Special Envoy for the region said the need for sustaining the 15-member body’s attention there was “greater than ever”.
Transparency, synergy, and cooperation were vital to the working methods of the 2140 Committee on Yemen, the Security Council heard today during a presentation of the body’s second report.
When the Security Council established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda 20 years ago, on the heels of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia the previous year, the landscape of international criminal law was altered forever, members heard today as they reviewed developments.
In a presidential statement adopted today, the Security Council expressed concern at the grave security situation in parts of Central Africa within the remit of the United Nations Regional Office there, in particular, the ongoing crisis in the Central African Republic and its regional impact, the continuing threat of the Lord’s Resistance Army, and the expansion of Boko Haram terrorist activities into countries in the subregion.
The five outgoing members of the Security Council — the Republic of Korea, Australia, Argentina, Luxembourg and Rwanda — delivered briefings to the Security Council this afternoon on the work of the subsidiary bodies they had chaired during their two-year tenure.
Although the situation in the Central African Republic remained volatile following the recent violence in Bangui, the political process was once again moving forward, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council this morning.
