Security Council

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Ma Zhaoxu (China):

On 24 October 2018, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1591 (2005) concerning the Sudan was briefed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, on the current situation regarding sexual violence in Sudan and particularly Darfur.

Against a complex backdrop of expanding terrorist threats and mounting hopelessness in Africa’s Sahel region, several senior officials today urged the United Nations and other partners to boost their support to the regional force established to combat those threats, as they briefed the Security Council on recent developments.

The Government of Bolivia, in cooperation with the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004) and its Group of Experts, hosted a regional conference on non-proliferation for the States of Latin America and the Caribbean, in La Paz from 7 to 8 November.

Unanimously adopting resolution 2446 (2018), the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) for one month until 15 December, with the mandate being maintained as set out in resolution 2387 (2017).

The Security Council today decided to extend until 15 May 2019 the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) ‑ operating in an oil-rich contested area on the border of Sudan and South Sudan ‑ while simultaneously reducing the Mission’s military troops and increasing its police presence.

New momentum in talks between Serbia and Kosovo must be accompanied by the implementation of previous agreements and other measures to build trust between communities in Kosovo, the Secretary—General’s Special Representative told the Security Council today.

Hailing the recent and historic rapprochements in the Horn of Africa, the Security Council today decided to lift the arms embargo, travel ban, assets freeze and targeted sanctions previously imposed on Eritrea, while simultaneously renewing its sanctions imposed against neighbouring Somalia.

Despite an ongoing Ebola outbreak and continued attacks by armed groups, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is nevertheless on track to hold critical elections as planned on 23 December, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today, as delegates expressed hope that a peaceful handover of power could bring longed-for stability to some 85 million people.

On 13 November 2018, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1518 (2003) approved the removal of the following entity from its List of Individuals and Entities subject to the assets freeze set out by paragraphs 19 and 23 of Security Council resolution 1483 (2003) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.