Security Council: Meetings Coverage

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.

The Security Council this morning strongly condemned the violence and intimidation to which, it said, humanitarian workers in conflict situations worldwide were increasingly exposed, as it laid out several steps it intended to take to ensure their protection.

Condemning the actions of the Houthis in Yemen who overran the city of Amran and the army headquarters there on 8 July, the Security Council this morning called on the faction to withdraw, cease hostilities in the area and remove camps and checkpoints around the country's capital, Sana'a.

During a month in which the Security Council was seized with multiple urgent crises, it was, at the same time, critical to strengthen the body’s conflict-prevention activities, the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom, President for August, said in a monthly wrap-up meeting.

The Security Council was meeting amid a dangerous escalation of the crisis in Ukraine, with intensified fighting in the last 48 hours in the south-east, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman told the 15-member body today, urging an immediate focus on political solutions and dialogue.

Aid access in Syria had begun to improve, but only the end of conflict would relieve the dire situation of civilians there who continued to die by the thousands and were now subjected to extremist outrages, a top United Nations humanitarian official told the Security Council this morning.

Expressing its strong support for the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, the Security Council today called on all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire and an end to the fighting.