Security Council

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.

Calling on Israel to abandon plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, the Secretary-General told the Security Council during a 24 June videoconference meeting that such a move would threaten the vision of a two-State solution.

On 2 June 2020, the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo transmitted its final report to the President of the Security Council (document S/2020/482).

Despite some recent positive developments on the political front, South Sudan is facing the twin threat of COVID-19 and escalating violence that can no longer be described as intercommunal, David Shearer, Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission in that country, told the Security Council during a 23 June videoconference meeting.

While warring parties agreed to more than 30 action plans, road maps, command orders and other measures to better protect children in 2019 — the highest number in any one year — cases of grave violations committed against minors remain unacceptably high, two United Nations experts on the matter told the Security Council in a 23 June videoconference meeting.

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