Security Council

Fragile calm had been restored in Kosovo following the 2011 clashes over crossing points and other issues, but real political progress demanded a thorough re-examination and better cohesion among all international efforts as the European Union stepped forward in a leadership role, a senior United Nations peacekeeping official told the Security Council today.

Dialogue among all parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as stabilization programmes and continuing efforts to protect civilians, were priorities in the vast central African country as tensions and uncertainties following recent national elections were being resolved, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council today.

While it was currently seized with the ongoing situation in Syria and a range of issues around the world, the Security Council’s main focus in February would be a members’ mission to Haiti, according to the Permanent Representative of Togo, which holds the body’s rotating presidency for the month.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Security Council President Baso Sangqu (South Africa):

High-level officials from the United States, the United Kingdom, France and other Member States converged on the Security Council today to press for the adoption of a draft resolution that would support a plan by the League of Arab States to stem the bloodshed in Syria, and which calls on the country’s President to step aside as part of a democratic transition process.

South Africa had achieved its objective of focusing the Security Council’s attention this month on a number of important and pressing Africa-related issues, Council President and South Africa’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Baso Sangqu, said during a Headquarters news conference this afternoon. “We are satisfied with the progress we have made during this presidency,”Mr.Sangqu said.

A spike in weapons proliferation, organized crime and terrorism — compounded by a massive influx of migrants returning from Libya — was exerting pressure on already-struggling countries across the Sahel region, the Security Council heard today as the senior United Nations political official briefed members on peace and security in Africa.

On 25 January 2012, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) approved the addition of the three entries specified below to its Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 1989 (2011) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.

The international community must continue supporting the security and recovery priorities already identified by the Government of Côte d’Ivoire, as “remarkable progress” was being made towards restoring normalcy since the end of the violent post-election crisis last year, the Secretary-General’s representative told the Security Council this morning.