Nearly eight years after its adoption, much work remains to be done before Security Council resolution 2118 (2013) on Syria’s chemical weapons programme can be considered fully implemented, a senior United Nations disarmament official told the 15-member organ today during its monthly meeting on that issue.
The Security Council today recognized the progress made in Darfur since 2007 to advance peace and security, following the complete drawdown of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) on 30 June, as it looked forward to receiving an assessment of lessons learned from the experience no later than 31 October.
The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for six months — until 31 January 2022 — expressing serious concern over violations of the military status quo along the ceasefire lines, reported encroachment by both sides into the buffer zone and increase in unauthorized construction — all of which pose challenges to the Force’s operations.
The Security Council today adopted a resolution extending for one year its arms embargo on the Central African Republic — as well as a travel ban and assets freeze imposed on certain individuals and entities, as designated by its sanctions committee — and renewing for 13 months the mandate of the Panel of Experts tasked with assisting that body.
While the global community should prioritize its support for Gaza’s reconstruction in the wake of the violence that erupted there in May, a senior United Nations official also urged the Security Council not to “lose sight of the broader goal” — namely, ending the Israeli occupation and realizing a two-State solution — as she briefed the organ during its quarterly open debate on the Middle East today.
The African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) completed the withdrawal of all uniformed and civilian personnel by its deadline of 30 June 2021, Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support Atul Khare told the Security Council today, achieving a milestone set by the 15-member organ for the Mission’s exit and empowering Sudan’s Government to take charge of maintaining peace in the region.
The Security Council condemned today the 20 July announcement by Turkish and Turkish Cypriot leaders on the further reopening of a part of the fenced-off Varosha area in Cyprus, calling for the immediate reversal of that course of action and for the reversal of all steps taken on Varosha since October 2020.
The Security Council today rejected a draft resolution that would end the powers and close the Office of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, effective 31 July 2022, as progress had been achieved.
Today’s unprecedented global need for humanitarian assistance — in concert with escalating violence against those providing it — requires robust action by the Security Council, experts told the 15-member organ today, as delegates grappled with a shrinking space for aid delivery fuelled by persistent disregard of its resolutions around the globe.
The Security Council stressed today the importance of free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya, scheduled for 24 December, urging Libyan authorities and institutions to clarify the constitutional basis for the polls, in a presidential statement adopted at the end of a ministerial-level meeting on restoring peace and stability in the North African nation.
