The Security Council today decided to extend, for six months, mandates of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) relating to the delivery of humanitarian assistance and the protection of civilians, among others, while also underlining that its tasks relating to the contested region’s Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism would be extended no further unless the parties to the dispute accelerated progress in several key areas.
A reported 60 Palestinians were killed on 14 May during protests at the perimeter fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, the deadliest day of violence since 2014, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today, condemning the actions leading up to the bloodshed and calling for an independent investigation.
The recent approval of Somalia’s security transition plan by the Council of Ministers, and its endorsement by the African Union Peace and Security Council, marked a milestone in the country’s path towards assuming full responsibility for its own stability, the Secretary‑General’s Special Representative told the Security Council today.
The Security Council today decided to reauthorize member States of the African Union to maintain their deployment of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) until 31 July 2018, recalling also its decision to authorize the regional bloc to reduce the Mission’s troop and police personnel levels by the end of October.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Joanna Wronecka (Poland):
Rising political temperatures between Pristina and Belgrade were threatening to derail efforts to find lasting peace in Kosovo, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General told the Security Council today.
Recounting the haunting stories of Rohingya refugees they met during a recent mission to Bangladesh and Myanmar, Security Council members today described mass rapes, attacks on children and the razing of entire villages, stressing that the visit had “awakened their collective conscience” into robust and concerted action.
The Security Council today stressed that the “primacy of politics” should be the hallmark of the United Nations approach to conflict resolution, with political solutions guiding the design and deployment of the Organization’s peacekeeping operations.
On 30 April 2018, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo convened a formal meeting with a representative of the Permanent Mission of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to discuss the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s efforts in the fight against sexual violence and child recruitment.
The ongoing reconfiguration of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) was having no adverse impact on security, although efforts towards a political solution to the conflict remained stalled, the Head of that Mission told the Security Council this morning as he presented the Secretary-General’s latest 60-day report on the situation there.
