Security Council: Press Release

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Nicolas de Rivière (France):

Experts briefing the Security Council during a 29 June videoconference meeting warned that cases of COVID-19 are likely to spread “like wildfire” amid Syria’s displaced millions — already suffering from hunger, spiking food prices and a health system decimated by war — while urging members to promptly renew the country’s crucial cross-border aid mechanism amid the pandemic.

An agreement between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is within reach, with the United Nations standing ready to support talks and the African Union-led process to settle remaining differences, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs told the Security Council in a 29 June videoconference meeting.

The Security Council, in a 29 June videoconference meeting, announced its decision to renew the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan for six months until 31 December and called on Israel and Syria to fully respect the terms of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement.

The Security Council, in a 29 June videoconference meeting, extended the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) until 30 June 2021 and set out a series of priority measures to be fulfilled in the coming 12 months by the Mission and the Malian parties.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Nicolas de Rivière (France):

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced an additional layer of complexity and concern to the existing issues facing the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including serious tensions within the governing coalition, ongoing humanitarian crises and more violence in the east of the country, the Head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) told the Security Council during a 25 June videoconference meeting.

As leaders in Afghanistan prepare for long-anticipated talks with the Taliban, COVID-19 has cast a huge shadow over daily life and limited the ability of the United Nations Assistance Mission to fulfil its mandate, the Secretary-General’s top official in the country told the Security Council in a 25 June videoconference meeting.

The Security Council, in a 25 June videoconference meeting, renewed for 24 months the mandate of the Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, while welcoming the arrest of a high-profile fugitive and urging States to bolster their cooperation.

The Security Council, in a 25 June videoconference meeting, renewed the sanctions regime imposed on the Democratic Republic of the Congo for one year, while extending for 13 months the mandate of a Group of Experts tasked with assisting in the oversight of those measures.