Security Council: Meetings Coverage

Resolved to strengthen the United Nations central role in peacekeeping, the Security Council coalesced around a resolution — the first of its kind in 10 years — which recognized the importance of multidimensional peacekeeping and stressed that peacekeeping activities should be conducted in a manner that facilitated post-conflict peacebuilding, helped prevent a relapse into conflict and assisted progress towards sustainable peace and development.

A senior United Nations official today applauded the “remarkable progress” made by Côte d’Ivoire in the 18 months following a violent post-electoral crisis, but cautioned that a recent wave of attacks against national security targets meant the “strong and sustained support” of the Security Council would be required as the Ivorian Government worked in the coming year to heal political divisions in the country’s “sensitive” security context.

“Nothing can justify terrorism — ever,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared at the opening of a high-level meeting of the Security Council today, capped by a presidential statement expressing that body’s deep concern over the terrorist threat and its determination to combat it by all means in all its forms and manifestations, in line with the United Nations Charter and international law.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative reported to the Security Council this morning that agreements, including a ceasefire, had just been signed in Libreville to contain the latest wave of rebellion in the Central African Republic and define the modalities for power sharing and political transition.

Affirming that the entrenchment of terrorist and criminal groups in northern Mali posed an urgent threat to that region and the entire international community, the Security Council today authorized the deployment of an African-led mission to support efforts by national authorities to recover the north.

In an open debate on post-conflict peacebuilding today, the Security Council emphasized the importance of inclusivity in advancing nationally owned and led processes and ensuring that the needs of all segments of society were taken into account and best served by an integrated approach based on coherence among political, security, development, human rights, rule of law and justice activities.

While Afghanistan had made progress “unthinkable a decade ago”, the challenges and tragedies that remained required both the Government and its international partners to follow through firmly on commitments made in recent international conferences, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council this afternoon.

Strongly condemning ongoing attacks and atrocities carried out in Central Africa by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebel group, the Security Council this afternoon urged swift implementation of United Nations and African Union strategies to address the threat through cooperation of all countries, organizations and peacekeeping operations in the region.

As 2012 drew to a close, momentum was slipping for a two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and tensions on the ground were worsening after the upgrade of Palestinian status in the General Assembly last month, the United Nations political affairs chief told the Security Council today, calling on all stakeholders to put bitterness aside to focus on the hard, practical work of forging an agreement in the year ahead.

The Security Council this morning extended until 30 June 2013 the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which monitors the ceasefire in the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria, expressing grave concern at recent violations by the Syrian Armed Forces in the mission’s area of operations.