Security Council: Press Conference

The centrepiece in the Security Council’s programme of work this month would be a ministerial meeting on the situation in the Sudan on 16 November, the current Council President, Mark Lyall Grant, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom, told correspondents today at Headquarters. “It is critical that the Council retains a very close focus on Sudan in these critical months,” he said.

The Security Council’s programme of work for October would include a mission to Uganda and Sudan, as well as two public debates — the first, at the ministerial level, on women and peace and security to mark the tenth anniversary of the first Council resolution on that subject, and the second on the Middle East — Ruhakana Rugunda (Uganda), Council President for the month, said today at Headquarters.

Highlights of Turkey’s September presidency of the Security Council included a summit on the maintenance of peace and security, which expected to hear from Heads of State and Government, and a high-level review of cooperation in counter-terrorism, the country’s Ambassador told journalists this afternoon.

The status of Kosovo, turbulence in the Middle East, piracy off the coast of Somalia and peacekeeping were among the major areas to be considered by the Security Council during the Russian Federation’s presidency in August, Vitaly Churkin, that country’s Permanent Representative, said at a Headquarters press conference today.

Presenting the results of a review of all cases on the Consolidated List established and maintained by the Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee, Thomas Mayr-Harting, Committee Chair, said that of a total 488 entries, 45 had been removed and another 66 were pending a final decision at the request of Member States.

Kimberly Prost, the newly appointed Ombudsperson of the Security Council’s 1267 Committee — also known as the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee — pledged at Headquarters today that she would make her office independent and accessible to sanctioned individuals seeking redress.

Conflict prevention and settlement of disputes, particularly in Africa, would come under the spotlight during the tenure of Joy Ogwu of Nigeria as Security Council President for July, the Ambassador said today briefing correspondents about the Council’s programme of work for the month.

Children and armed conflict, justice and the rule of law, and the situation in Sudan were among the major areas to be considered by the Security Council during Mexico’s presidency in June, Claude Heller, that country’s Permanent Representative, said at a Headquarters press conference today.

The President of the United Nations Security Council for May, Lebanon’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Nawaf Salam, today outlined a programme of work for the month, which will include debates, consultations and briefings on a broad spectrum of issues, and will also include at least one Council mission.

Reviews of major peacekeeping and peace-building efforts, as well as a members’ mission to Africa, will be among the most significant activities of the Security Council in April, the permanent representative of Japan said today.