Security Council: Meetings Coverage

The Security Council’s role in new efforts to forge peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was crucial to stopping one of the longest, most appalling human rights crises, said the Secretary-General’s newly appointed Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region, pressing delegates to seize a “moment of renewed opportunity” to resolve the underlying causes and infuse hope into a new United Nations-mediated peace accord for the country and region.

Acting on the recommendations of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Security Council today decided to establish the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) by 3 June for an initial period of 12 months, providing the United Nations “good offices” functions — and a range of strategic policy advice — in support of the Federal Government’s peace and reconciliation process.

The situation in Darfur was “very troubling”, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous told the Security Council today, and while there had been “mildly encouraging” developments in the process to achieve peace in Sudan’s restive western region, a fully inclusive political settlement had yet to be reached and resolving the protracted conflict required joint efforts to persuade belligerent parties to lay down their weapons and join negotiations.

It was now very clear how the United Nations should support the Somali Government through 2016, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs told the Security Council in a briefing this afternoon, citing the Secretary-General’s vision for a new United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia, grounded in real needs and a well-thought out analysis of the objective reality in that country.

Of the view that post-conflict peacebuilding must meet the expectation of ensuring the durability of the peace efforts that preceded it, speakers in the Security Council today reaffirmed the Peacebuilding Commission’s role to prevent a relapse of conflict and support the initiatives of recovering Governments and societies to own and lead the process of rebuilding and leaving the trauma behind.

Concerned that the circulation of weapons continued to pose “significant” risks to the stability of Côte d’Ivoire, the Security Council today extended its arms embargo, as well as financial and travel measures, against the West African nation, until 30 April 2014.

The Security Council today unanimously approved the creation of a 12,600 member peacekeeping force in the West African nation of Mali, strongly condemning the January offensive by armed groups towards the south and stressing that terrorism could only be defeated by a sustained and comprehensive approach to isolate the terrorist threat.

Welcoming the commitment of the parties to continue the process of negotiation through United Nations sponsored talks to find a political solution to the long-standing dispute in Western Sahara, the Security Council today extended through 30 April 2014 the mandate of the United Nations Mission there.

As the “grim” tragedy inside Syria continued to deteriorate, it was even more vital that all parties worked collectively to preserve stability in the Middle East, Jeffrey Feltman, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told the Security Council today, stressing that advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was central to ensuring the region did not risk further destabilization.

Describing the situation in Syria as a “humanitarian catastrophe” with ordinary people paying the price for the failure to end the conflict, a senior United Nations official said today that even amid that grim reality and the possibility looming that humanitarian programmes critical to ease the suffering might have to be shut down, the Security Council had been unable to reach the consensus needed to support a political resolution to the crisis.