Security Council: Meetings Coverage

Commending peacekeepers’ recent efforts to quell violence and help national armed forces defeat the 23 March Movement insurgency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the commander of the United Nations Mission there said today that this year it must be more agile and active in the strife-torn eastern part of the country.

Deploring in the strongest terms recent events in Ramadi and Fallujah in Iraq’s Anbar Province, the Security Council today condemned the attacks by Al-Qaida affiliate, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, in an attempt to destabilize the country and the region.

The situation in the Central African Republic had “greatly deteriorated” following a spate of attacks on 5 December that had triggered further unrest in the strife-torn country, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, urging those in positions of influence — including the 15-member organ — to do more towards ending the violence.

Responding to the rapidly deteriorating security and humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, the Security Council today unanimously adopted a resolution which, among others, called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and overall increased force levels of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

The Security Council today expressed growing concern about the serious threats posed by drug trafficking and related transnational organized crime to international peace and stability in West Africa and the Sahel region.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) for six months, until 30 June 2014, as ongoing military activities in the area of separation could jeopardize the ceasefire between Israel and Syria, posing risk to civilians and peacekeeping personnel alike.

The Security Council today extended terms of office for 17 permanent and ad litem judges of the Trial and Appeals Chambers at the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia until 31 December 2014, or completion of the cases assigned to them, if sooner.

In spite of the praiseworthy efforts made by the leaders of West Africa, the region remained fragile and would require the ongoing support of the international community, the United Nations envoy for the region said in a briefing to the Security Council today.

The Security Council decided today that the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) would continue to operate as a special political mission until 31 December 2017, under the policy guidance of the Counter-Terrorism Committee.

Despite temporary setbacks, Afghanistan’s political and security transition was on track as the Central Asian country sought to emerge from conflict and complete such work by the end of 2014, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council this morning, stressing that predictability would be essential to building confidence in the future.