Security Council: Meetings Coverage

Recognizing the steps that Haiti had taken towards stabilization, and noting with concern the delays in preparations for elections scheduled for later this year, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti until 15 October 2014, encouraging it to enhance further the Government’s ability to extend State authority throughout the country and promote good governance and the rule of law at all levels.

Appalled at the unacceptable and escalating violence and the death of more than 100,000 people in Syria and emphasizing that the humanitarian situation would deteriorate further in the absence of a political solution to the crisis, the Security Council today urged all parties to facilitate immediate humanitarian assistance to affected persons, including through safe and unhindered access to such populations in all areas under their control and across conflict lines.

Deeply outraged by the use of chemical weapons on 21 August in a Damascus suburb, as concluded by a United Nations investigation team, the Security Council this evening endorsed the expeditious destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme, with inspections to begin by 1 October, and agreed that in the event of non-compliance, it would impose “Chapter VII” measures.

Yemen’s political transition was at a critical juncture, with the country facing several serious political, economic, humanitarian and security challenges, the Security Council heard today.

Expressing grave concern that the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse of small arms and light weapons continued to cause significant loss of life around the world, senior ministers in the Security Council reminded Governments today of their obligation to comply fully and effectively with Council-mandated arms embargoes.

Despite serious challenges ahead of presidential and provincial elections planned for 2014, Afghanistan had significantly advanced its political and security transitions that aimed to secure the country’s return to normalcy following decades of entrenched conflict, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council this morning, ahead of an open debate.

Sierra Leone’s development plan for 2013-2018 was facing a funding gap of more than $2 billion, but the United Nations exit strategy remained on course to meet the March 2014 deadline, the Security Council heard today.

Commending the people and Government of Liberia on their enduring commitment to peace and initiation of reforms, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the country for one year, until 30 September 2014, while authorizing implementation of the second phase of reduction of the Mission’s military component by 1,129 personnel by that date.

Twenty years of endless negotiations and conflict in the Middle East since the signing of the Oslo Accords had undermined the belief that peace was possible, but the same 20 years of peace efforts had also demonstrated that fair, reasonable and legitimate solutions could be found, a United Nations envoy for the region told the Security Council in a regular monthly briefing today.

Following four decades of despotic rule in Libya, it was evident that preconceived ideas about political transition were more likely to be a “recipe for disappointment, if not failure”, as demand for a national dialogue to address the faltering process grew across the political spectrum, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in that country told the Security Council today.