Security Council

While continuing violence and human rights violations continued to impede progress in South Sudan amid the State’s struggle to establish and extend its authority, recent developments gave reason for “cautious optimism”, the senior United Nations official in that country told the Security Council in a briefing today.

An almost evenly divided Security Council, lacking the requisite nine affirmative votes, today failed to adopt a resolution seeking a one-year delay in International Criminal Court proceedings against the President and Deputy President of Kenya.

The support of the Security Council and the international community were crucial in the “colossal” task of untangling the networks responsible for ongoing instability in Libya, where the security situation since the 2011 uprising remained volatile and precarious, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court told the 15-member body today in her latest briefing on the North African country.

Condemning the 19-month M23 insurgency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Security Council issued a presidential statement today, welcoming the armed group’s announcement of an end to its rebellion, the Government’s acceptance of that announcement and the cessation of hostilities.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to 31 October 2014, requesting the African Union to increase the troop strength of that regional peacekeeping body from 17,731 to a maximum of 22,126 uniformed personnel as part of overall efforts to combat the increasingly asymmetrical tactics of Al-Shabaab rebels in the country.

Despite polarizing rhetoric and institutional inertia marring the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today that it was critical to build on the post-war gains and ensure peace, stability and prosperity in the country through greater integration with Europe.

Reaffirming its intention to keep implementation of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the situation there under close review and its readiness to consider the imposition of measures if any party failed significantly to meet its obligations, the Security Council today extended the European Union multinational stabilization force (EUFOR ALTHEA) for another 12 months.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Liu Jieyi (China):

The Security Council’s work programme in November would adhere to a “tight” schedule, comprising 30 meetings and consultations on 20 items, with the Middle East and Africa featuring highest on the agenda, the Permanent Representative of China said today, as he assumed the presidency of the 15-member body.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Liu Jieyi (China):