Security Council: Meetings Coverage

With the early results of an investigation into the downing of a Malaysian airline over Ukraine showing that the jet was hit by "high-energy objects”, the priority now was to prevent a repeat of that tragedy, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs told the Security Council this morning.

Determining that the “unprecedented extent” of the Ebola outbreak in Africa constituted a threat to international peace and security, the Security Council this afternoon called on Member States to respond urgently to the crisis and to refrain from isolating the affected countries.

Protracted deadlock in Afghanistan over the result of presidential elections deepened a crisis that had already taken a heavy political, security and economic toll, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in that country told the Security Council today.

As negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme continued, the 1737 Committee on Iran sanctions would continue its work of monitoring implementation, investigating alleged violations and responding to requests for guidance from Member States, its Chair told the Security Council this afternoon.

Describing a crisis situation in Libya as deteriorating towards chaos, the Secretary-General's new Special Representative, briefing the Security Council, pledged the perseverance of the United Nations in efforts to engage the parties in a political solution to end the factional armed violence.

Urging a stepped-up international response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa, the Security Council this morning decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia until 31 December 2014 with no changes in deployment.

As the Security Council took up the Secretary-General’s report on the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), speakers voiced an array of views on the proposed drawdown of that operation’s presence, particularly in light of the recent political impasse impeding legislative, national and local elections from being held by the mandated deadline.

The severity of the Ebola outbreak presented Liberia with its gravest threat since the civil war, and the United Nations Mission there had to reorient its activities and its planning to help stem it, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council this morning.

In an all-day debate in the Security Council, over 60 speakers urged accelerated action to prevent and ensure accountability for the killing, recruiting and other abuse of children in situations of armed conflict that continued despite greater awareness of the scourge.