Security Council: Meetings Coverage

Despite some progress achieved in South Sudan’s transition towards a stable, viable State, internal security challenges and political fault-lines — exacerbated by a recent spate of inter-communal violence — continued to render the new country fragile and threaten peace and security throughout the region, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative warned the Security Council this afternoon.

An ongoing political stalemate, protracted demonstrations, terrorist attacks and strained Arab-Kurdish relations could fuel existing political and security challenges in Iraq, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council this morning, urging the country to remain “determined and steadfast” during a very challenging time.

The stabilization process in Haiti had hit a number of difficulties — including a missed opportunity to hold elections last year — but the Caribbean nation could still surmount entrenched political divisions and launch institutional reforms vital for meeting the urgent security and economic needs of its citizens, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today.

The Security Council today extended for another year the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan and called on the Organization and the international community to bolster the Afghan Government’s efforts to take ownership of and leadership in National Priority Programmes covering security, governance, justice and socio-economic development.

The Security Council today extended for 12 months the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya to assist the authorities in defining national needs and priorities and match those with offers of strategic and technical advice, and modified the two-year-old ban on arms imports to boost the country’s security and disarmament efforts.

With Sierra Leone’s progress “proof” of what could be accomplished through concerted multilateral and national efforts in the post-conflict period, it was time to begin a reconfiguration of the United Nations mission and, starting 1 April, to gradually transfer responsibilities to the country team and Government, the Secretary-General’s top envoy in that country told the Security Council today.

The Security Council today passed unanimously a resolution strengthening and expanding the scope of United Nations sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea by targeting the illicit activities of diplomatic personnel, transfers of bulk cash, and the country’s banking relationships, in response to that country’s third nuclear test on 12 February.

The committee monitoring sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear programme “is currently exploring” appropriate actions in response to that country’s July 2012 missile launches and “stands ready” to act on other allegations of non-compliance, the Chair of the Committee said today, as he briefed the Security Council.

Responding to calls for a change in support to Somalia, in line with notable progress there, the Security Council today decided to maintain deployment of the African Union Mission until 28 February 2014, reshape the United Nations presence there, and partially lift its 20-year weapons ban for one year to boost the Government’s capacity to protect areas recovered from the militant group Al-Shabaab and stave off fresh attempts by such groups to destabilize the country.

Looking to bolster the new regional accord for peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on the Security Council to create a special “intervention brigade” within the existing United Nations peacekeeping operation to combat rebel groups destabilizing the county’s eastern region.