Security Council: Meetings Coverage

The Security Council decided today to extend authorization for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) for 12 months, keeping the current mandate, but signalling its intention to review it during that period upon request by the country’s Government.

Reiterating that Somalia’s political transition will not be extended beyond 20 August 2012, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the group monitoring sanctions imposed on that country, explicitly targeting those who obstruct the process, while relaxing funding and equipment restrictions that could negatively affect the delivery of humanitarian aid.

With the establishment of regional institutions in Darfur as part of the Doha political process, it was now critical to launch initiatives that could consolidate peace and persuade communities outside of the peace process to join, the Joint African Union-United Nations envoy told the Security Council this afternoon.

The Security Council today, just hours before the expiration of the 90-day mandate of the United Nations observer mission in Syria, agreed on a resolution to keep the mission in place for a final 30 days, while indicating further renewals will be possible only if it can be confirmed that the use of heavy weapons has ceased and a reduction in violence by all sides was sufficient to permit it to implement its mandate.

Iraq has “much to be proud of” in the progress and achievements of recent years, but determined domestic leadership was needed in order to overcome challenges in governance, human rights and sustainable development, and the United Nations role was “more important than ever”, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General told the Security Council this afternoon.

Due to negative votes from two permanent members, the Security Council today failed to adopt a resolution that would have extended the mandate of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) and which would have threatened sanctions on the country if demands to end the spiralling violence were not met.

Urging the leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities to work towards “decisive progress” on the core issues that divided them, the Security Council this morning extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for a further period ending 30 January 2013.

As Cote d’Ivoire makes impressive strides on the path to peace but also faces significant challenges and threats, the United Nations must continue to assist the Government’s efforts to transition to a peacebuilding phase, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council this afternoon.

Briefing the Security Council on Libya in what he expected would be his last time as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative there, Ian Martin said this morning that the 7 July elections showed how far the country had come in the practice and spirit of democracy following the civil war that toppled Muammar Qadhafi, as he also outlined the challenges ahead.

The peacebuilding architecture designed to help country’s move from conflict to peace and development was beginning to show signs it has “come of age and is making a difference”, but much work remained to be done to enhance the effectiveness of those tools, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council today, as it held a day-long debate on the issue and heard from several other top officials.