The more than $7 billion spent annually on United Nations peacekeeping operations must achieve its best possible value on the ground, speakers emphasized today, as the Security Council considered how best to improve mission performance and hold failures accountable.
On 31 August 2018, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo met with the members of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, whose mandate was extended on 29 June 2018 to 1 August 2019 pursuant to resolution 2424 (2018).
Amid escalating violence and lack of participation by one party in Yemen’s recently relaunched peace talks, the international community must commit to supporting dialogue, protecting civilians and preventing the country’s further decline into chaos, the senior United Nations official tasked with shepherding the negotiations stressed today as he briefed the Security Council.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Nikki R. Haley (United States):
On 11 September 2018, the Committee approved the addition of the entry specified below to its List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze and travel ban, set out in paragraphs 15 and 17 of Security Council resolution 1970 (2011), and paragraph 19 of resolution 1973 (2011), adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.
By violating the last de‑escalation zone in the Syria conflict, the Russian Federation and Iran are not demonstrating a commitment to protecting civilian lives, and it is absurd to think the world will pay for reconstruction as they pummel Idlib, the representative of the United States told the Security Council today.
In its first‑ever meeting to address the links between corruption and conflict, the Security Council today considered ways to effectively disrupt the illicit siphoning of money by leaders and other practices that weaken State institutions, thereby making a country susceptible to conflict.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Nikki R. Haley (United States):
The Syrian Government and its partners — currently poised at the brink of a massive military strike against the north‑west province of Idlib — must urgently rethink its strategy, the Security Council heard today, as delegates sounded the alarm about such repercussions as mass civilian casualties and the flood of up to 700,000 refugees into neighbouring countries, Europe and beyond.
Despite progress being made, not only was the international community’s confidence in Syria’s full elimination of its chemical weapons programme dependent upon the United Nations being able to close outstanding issues, but the lack of an accountability mechanism was a missing step in taking to task those responsible for using chemical weapons, a senior United Nations disarmament official told the Security Council today.
