Security Council: Meetings Coverage

Amid a fragile backdrop of peace and security in Darfur, regional dynamics are mainly favourable in maintaining stability, the outgoing head of Sudan’s sanctions committee told the Security Council today.

Describing Sudan’s political transition as “undergoing its greatest crisis to date” in the wake of a coup d’état, the United Nations top official for that country today cautiously welcomed the recent power-sharing agreement jointly announced by the nation’s military leader and the reinstated Prime Minister.

Warning that people and countries most vulnerable to climate change also are most vulnerable to terrorist recruitment and violence, nearly 60 speakers in an open debate today told the Security Council that the negative synergy between the two crises threatens to undermine States and international security itself, as the 15-nation organ considered a draft resolution proposed by Niger and Ireland on the matter.

Syria’s declaration of its chemical weapons programme cannot be considered accurate and complete due to the identified gaps, inconsistencies and discrepancies, the United Nations disarmament chief told the Security Council today, urging that country’s thorough cooperation with the Technical Secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Despite the extraordinary circumstances presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Security Council’s Mali sanctions committee held several important consultations in 2021 — including the first virtual meeting of any subsidiary body to employ simultaneous interpretation — the Security Council heard today during a briefing on the body’s recent activities.

In the face of a slew of challenges, ranging from intractable conflicts to the climate emergency, strengthened multilateral action is needed to tackle the complex issues prompting migratory flows, Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, informed the Security Council today.  “With such challenges, the multilateral system has never been so important; yet, the international system has never been so prone to failure,” he said.

Delegates urged international partners to continue helping the Democratic Republic of the Congo implement its programme of action for 2021-2023, as the Security Council examined today the forthcoming mandate renewal for the United Nations peacekeeping operation in that country.

The Security Council today renewed for an additional three months its authorization for States and regional organizations cooperating with Somalia to use all necessary means to fight piracy off the coast of the East African country.

Significant steps have been taken in the pursuit of justice and securing accountability for victims, including by gathering and analysing evidence of crimes perpetrated by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh), and tying those crimes to specific members, the head of the United Nations team tasked with investigating atrocity crimes by that group told the Security Council today.

The Security Council heard the annual briefing from the chairs of its three counter-terrorism Committees today, as members stressed the importance of cooperation among the three bodies to mount a united front against the growing global scourge.