Security Council

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Syria today:

Amid the swift withdrawal of troops by the United States and its allies from Afghanistan, the Taliban is flexing its military muscle to gain greater control of the country’s territory, speakers warned the Security Council in a videoconference meeting today, as one civil society leader urged members to help avert a “Rwanda-type genocide” in the conflict-plagued country.

The General Assembly, acting without a vote, adopted one resolution and two decisions today which addressed the United Nations cooperation with the Pacific Islands Forum, intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform and the next round of talks for a treaty regarding marine biological diversity.

Despite progress made towards accountability and political stability, the senior United Nations official in South Sudan told the Security Council today that significant security and humanitarian challenges remain, as members diverged on the utility of sanctions still imposed on the world’s youngest country.

Amid deteriorating socioeconomic conditions and a lingering political impasse, political and civil society leaders in Haiti must ensure that parliamentary and presidential elections take place within the current calendar year to enable an orderly democratic transfer of power in February 2022, experts told the Security Council today.

On 17 June 2021, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al‑Qaida, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities approved the addition of the entry specified below to its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2368 (2017), and adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.

The General Assembly adopted a resolution today that recognizes the right of return of all internally displaced persons and refugees and their descendants, regardless of ethnicity, to their homes throughout Georgia, including in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia.

Members of the Security Council grappled with the efficacy of maintaining international peace and security through meetings held via video-teleconference, and with other new technologies, as the 15-member organ held an open debate today to consider the working methods that have defined its deliberations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Intensive diplomatic efforts by the United Nations and other partners to broker a ceasefire and restart a political process in Yemen have failed to produce tangible progress, the United Nations mediator for that country said today, describing a five-year dearth of direct talks between warring parties as “a shocker”.

Implementation of the peace process in Sudan remains limited with intercommunal violence in Darfur on the rise, the Security Council heard today as the head of that country’s sanctions committee reiterated the need for targeted sanctions.