Security Council: Meetings Coverage

As the impact of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon’s stability “becomes more and more apparent”, the Security Council today expressed deep concern at the growing involvement of Lebanese parties and called on them to recommit to the policy of dissociation and to step back from any involvement in the neighbouring crisis, consistent with the Baabda Declaration of June 2012 aimed at safeguarding Lebanon.

Despite inter-communal violence and insecurity in the populous north-eastern State of Jonglei, South Sudan had made significant strides towards consolidating peace, creating an effective police force and establishing the rule of law, the senior United Nations official in that country told the Security Council today.

Expressing grave concern at all violations of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, the Security Council this morning extended until 31 December 2013 the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, which monitors the ceasefire in the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria.

The Security Council today decided to remove Iraq from its obligations under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter concerning the return of Kuwaiti and third-State nationals or their remains and their property seized by Iraq’s former regime during its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The senior United Nations official in the Sahel today unveiled an integrated strategy for combating extremists and terrorists in the region and beyond, as well as arms proliferation and transnational organized crime.

The expanded use of new technologies — including unarmed drones — in United Nations peacekeeping operations could bolster both military and political intelligence and help save lives, the Security Council heard today during briefings by force commanders of a number of missions.

Despite significant challenges and escalating tensions on the ground, the United Nations must not let a “collective sense of impotence” erode its sense of responsibility in the Middle East, warned a top political official as he briefed the Security Council this afternoon.

The United Nations top official in Mali commended the 18 June Preliminary Agreement on the Presidential Elections and Inclusive Negotiations between that country’s transitional Government and armed groups in the north as an “important first step” towards full restoration of constitutional order and territorial integrity in the strife-torn country.

The Security Council today urged the United Nations sanctions committees to apply targeted sanctions against parties committing sexual violence during armed conflict.

The United Nations top policy official on Afghanistan today called on the Afghan Government to bolster steps to ensure next April’s presidential and provincial council elections were transparent and inclusive, while deploring the spike in violence against civilians in recent months.