Security Council

The Security Council, meeting independently from but concurrently with the General Assembly in an initial round of voting today, was not yet able to fill five open seats on the International Court of Justice.

Yemen is again teetering on the brink of famine, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council during a 11 November videoconference meeting, reiterating their calls for donors to scale up relief funding and for the warring parties to sign the Joint Declaration for a nationwide ceasefire, economic and humanitarian measures and the resumption of peace talks.

Against the welcome backdrop of a newly signed ceasefire and fresh political talks in Libya, States must recommit to bringing justice to the victims of the country’s worst atrocity crimes, the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor told the Security Council during a videoconference meeting today, describing the failure to arrest and surrender fugitives as a “major stumbling block” impeding her work.

The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the sixth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Sudan (document S/2020/614), agreed to convey the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group:

The Security Council decided to extend for one year its authorization to States working as part of the multinational stabilization force in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and heard a briefing by the high representative in that country, with voting results announced virtually in accordance with the temporary silence procedure adopted for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reporting that Syria missed an October deadline to respond to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on the country’s reported use and stockpiling of such weapons, the senior United Nations disarmament official urged today that the Security Council end its divisions on the critical matter and act to resolve it.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Inga Rhonda King (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines):

The deployment of more women police officers is key to enhancing the effectiveness of United Nations peace operations, speakers told the Security Council during a 4 November videoconference meeting, highlighting the importance of a gender balance in community outreach, patrol and confidence-building.

As COVID-19 and climate change exacerbate poverty and other drivers of conflict, it is ever more urgent that security, development and human rights be addressed in an integrated manner, speakers told the Security Council today in a video-teleconferenced open debate.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the Security Council debate on “Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace:  Contemporary Drivers of Conflict and Insecurity”, held today: