Security Council

The Security Council today decided to extend until 21 September 2020 the mandate of the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (UNITAD).

The Security Council failed to adopt two draft resolutions on the situation in Syria today — one tabled by Belgium, Germany and Kuwait; the other by China and the Russian Federation — amid heated debate on their content and concern over the fate of civilians in Idlib Governorate.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Vassily A. Nebenzia (Russian Federation):

With winter fast approaching, funding and supplies will be essential to meet the growing needs of Syria’s people, a top United Nations humanitarian official told the Security Council today, laying out the extensive challenges confronting aid workers working tirelessly to reach civilians with life-saving assistance.

While the situation for many people in South Sudan remains bleak, a year of relative peace has kick-started a process of transformation that is improving lives, with one-time enemies coming together to chart the way forward for the world’s youngest nation, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in that country told the Security Council today.

The Security Council decided today to extend, until 17 September 2020, the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) to support the organization of elections in that country, including the presidential ballot scheduled for 28 September.

The top United Nations official in Yemen called for advancing “with purpose and resolve” towards a political solution to end the conflict, now in its fourth year, as Security Council delegates today cautioned that the 14 September attack on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia could spark a regional conflagration.

The Security Council today decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia and related reporting requirements until 25 September 2020.

A Security Council statement issued today welcomed the role of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA)in promoting inclusive political dialogue in non-mission settings such as Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome and Principe, and in consolidating peace, resolving tensions, and preventing or mitigating political crises.

The Security Council today decided to extend a modified sanctions regime against the Central African Republic through 31 January 2020.