On 12 February 2016, at its third formal meeting, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2206 (2015) concerning South Sudan held an exchange of views on the implementation of the sanctions measures in pursuance of paragraph 16(g) of the resolution and paragraph 3(b) of the Committee’s Guidelines with the representatives to the United Nations of South Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda.
The humanitarian crisis in Iraq was expected “to widen and worsen” in 2016, despite some recent success in rolling back Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh), the senior United Nations official in that country told the Security Council today.
After nearly a year of fighting that had caused immeasurable suffering in Yemen, it was more urgent than ever to address the human catastrophe unfolding in that war-torn country, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien told the Security Council today, urging it to impress upon the warring parties the importance of facilitating unconditional humanitarian access and protecting civilians.
Speakers today called for the United Nations to strike a balance between the fundamental principle of State sovereignty and the need to protect human rights, as the Security Council held a day-long debate on the tenets of the Organization’s Charter.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Rafael Darío Ramírez Carreño (Venezuela):
On 11 February 2016, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) enacted the amendments specified with underline and strikethrough in the entry below on its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 2 of Security Council resolution 2253(2015) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations:
Speakers called today for greater transparency in the procedures and practices of committees established to monitor United Nations sanctions and improve communication with affected countries, as the Security Council held a general debate on the working methods of its subsidiary bodies.
The Security Council today renewed until 12 March 2017 the mandate of the Panel of Experts monitoring sanctions imposed on those behind instability in Sudan’s western Darfur region, expressing regret that members of the Government as well as armed groups continued to disregard its demands, while also signalling its intention to impose measures against parties perpetuating violence.
Despite recent territorial losses inflicted upon Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the international community urgently needed “unity and action” to combat the continuing threat posed by the terrorist group, the ranking United Nations political official stressed today as he briefed the Security Council.
The Security Council decided today to maintain the current personnel ceiling of more than 12,800 in the military and police components of the United Nations peacekeeping operation in the Central African Republic and to increase the number of corrections officers, determining that the situation in the strife-torn nation remained a threat to international peace and security.
