Security Council: Meetings Coverage

The conduct of the referendum in Southern Sudan had been timely, fair, peaceful and credible in a way that no one could have predicted just a few months ago, Benjamin Mkapa, Chair of the Secretary-General’s Panel on the Referenda in the Sudan, said this morning as the Security Council heard briefings on the event, which took place between 9 and 15 January.

Praising the appointment of Somalia’s new Cabinet in the Security Council today, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the strife-torn country called for international support to help its Transitional Federal Government consolidate the gains of the Djibouti Peace Agreement as the end of the transition period approached.

With the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) set to end its four-year mandate in the Himalayan country tomorrow at midnight, the Security Council reaffirmed its support for the peace process and called on the Nepalese caretaker Government and all political parties to “redouble their efforts to continue to work together in the sprit of consensus to fulfil the commitments they made in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and other agreements”.

Afghanistan’s transition to responsibility for its own security, governance and development, put into motion this year, would result in a realignment of aid but not the country’s abandonment, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for that country said today.

The Security Council decided this morning to establish the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals to finish the remaining tasks of the Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia, and maintain their respective legacies.

The Security Council today renewed the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which has supervised the ceasefire between Israel and Syria since 1974, for the next sixth months, until 30 June 2011. Unanimously adopting resolution 1965 (2010), the Council also called for implementation of its resolution 338 (1973), which required immediate negotiations between the parties, aimed at establishing a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

Expressing serious concern at continued fighting and condemning terrorist attacks by armed groups and foreign fighters, the Security Council today extended its authorization of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) until 30 September 2011. Unanimously adopting resolution 1964 (2010) under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, the Council requested the African Union to increase AMISOM’s force strength from the current mandated level of 8,000 troops to a maximum of 12,000.

Pointing out that in his youth during the Korean War, the United Nations had been a “beacon of hope”, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged members of the Security Council to act decisively to enable the Organization to keep that status, as he spoke at a special event for youth sponsored by the United States, whose delegation holds that body’s rotating presidency for the month.

Commending the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT), as its mandate expires this month, the Security Council this morning called on donors to assist the Governments of the two countries of the Mission’s former area of operation to fulfil their increased responsibility in protecting civilians there.