Security Council: Meetings Coverage

The growth of international terrorism, insurgency, piracy and human suffering in Somalia demanded an intensified, focused and coordinated response by the international community, the Secretary-General’s new Special Representative for the Horn of Africa country told the Security Council this morning. “Experience in Somalia has shown that the more delayed or inadequate the response is, the more complex the crisis becomes,” Augustine Mahiga said in his first appearance before the Council.

Expressing deep concern at the recent tensions in Nepal, the Security Council today extended by four months the mandate of the United Nations Mission there, after which it would leave the country, as requested by the Government. Unanimously adopting resolution 1939 (2010), the Council decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) until 15 January 2011.

The Security Council was briefed today by the Chairperson of its Committee to monitor sanctions against Iran, following which several Council members expressed concern at that country’s continuation of its nuclear activities and sanctions violations, while underscoring their commitment to a negotiated solution.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia for one year, until 30 September 2011, authorizing it to focus on elections, security and other issues key to the Mission’s future drawdown.

The current strength of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, augmented after the devastating earthquake, should be maintained at least through the elections and the formation of a new Government, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council this morning.

In a vote held simultaneously with the General Assembly, the Security Council today elected Joan E. Donoghue of the United States, by secret ballot, to the International Court of Justice to fill the remainder of the term left vacant by the resignation of Judge Thomas Buergenthal of the United States (see documents S/2010/442 and S/2010/443). She will serve until 5 February 2015.

Liberia had made “tremendous progress” since the end of its devastating civil war, but would require international assistance to keep making progress in the foreseeable future, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council this morning.

While the primary responsibility for the protection of civilians and for preventing the mass rapes that occurred in August in the Democratic Republic of the Congo lay with the State, failures could be traced to the peacekeeping mission there as well, the head of an investigative mission on the incidents told the Security Council in a briefing this afternoon.

The hard decisions needed to take Nepal’s peace process forward lay firmly in the hands of the Himalayan country’s leaders, and were beyond the mandate and capacity of the United Nations Mission there, known as UNMIN, the Secretary-General’s representative told the Security Council this morning.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for one year, calling strongly on all parties to respect the Blue Line, the cessation of hostilities and relevant resolutions in the wake of recent violent incidents.