Security Council: Meetings Coverage

Expressing deep regret that civilians continued to account for the vast majority of casualties in conflict situations, including as a result of deliberate targeting, indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks and sexual and gender-based violence, the Security Council today demanded that all relevant parties immediately end such practices, and reaffirmed its readiness to adopt appropriate measures.

Calling on all Bosnia and Herzegovina’s political leaders to refrain from divisive rhetoric and make further concrete and tangible progress towards European Union integration, the Security Council this afternoon authorized for another year, until 18 November 2011, the European Union Stabilization Force (EUFOR) mandated to ensure continued compliance with the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended fighting in the country in 1995.

Emphasizing that the situation in Sudan represented one of the most urgent challenges facing the Security Council, the 15-member body, convening at the ministerial level, underlined today that full and timely implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), including the holding of referenda on the self-determination of Southern Sudan and the status of Abyei, was essential to national as well as regional peace and stability.

The Security Council today welcomed the agreement achieved in Iraq on 11 November to form a national partnership Government.

The authorities and communities of Kosovo and Serbia must take advantage of United Nations and European facilitation to overcome differences through dialogue, the head of the Organization’s interim administration there, known as UNMIK, told the Security Council this afternoon, as members held that such talks would be a factor for peace, security and stability in the wider Balkan region as well.

The international community must urge the newly elected leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina to end the stagnation and internal disagreements of the past four years, the top international official in the country told the Security Council today.

The Security Council today was briefed on legal issues and options regarding implementation of successor arrangements for the Development Fund for Iraq — due to expire by 31 December — by the United Nations Controller and the Head of the Committee of Financial Experts of the Government of Iraq.

The menace of piracy off the coast of Somalia was outpacing international efforts to stem it, B. Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told the Security Council today, emphasizing: “Warships alone will not solve the problem.”

Plans to reform Guinea-Bissau’s security sector, reintegrate former combatants and end impunity in the country, if properly pursued, would create the conditions for wider international cooperation with the West African country, Joseph Mutaboba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, told the Security Council this morning.

The 31 October presidential elections in Côte d’Ivoire were “marked as much by the enthusiasm of the population as by the respect for democratic principles”, the Head of the United Nations Mission there told the Security Council this morning, adding that voters’ turnout of around 80 per cent was one of the highest in the world.