Strengthening cooperation with the African Union, including by providing it with adequate financing, is key to strengthening peacekeeping operations on the continent, speakers told the Security Council as it held a day-long open debate on that subject.
During its informal consultations on 24 October 2018, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2206 (2015) concerning South Sudan was briefed by Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. Ms. Patten, whose predecessor last briefed the Committee in March 2017, noted inter alia that sexual violence remained rampant in South Sudan and was used as part of a strategy to degrade, shame and humiliate both the victims and communities, often along ethnic and/or political lines.
On 19 November 2018, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al‑Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities approved the addition of the entry specified below to 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 1 of Security Council resolution 2368 (2017), and adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.
Reiterating the importance of convening a constitutional committee as a first step towards a political solution to the crisis in Syria, the Secretary‑General’s Special Envoy for that country told the Security Council today that the United Nations is open to any suggestions on the list of disputed attendees that allows inclusive participation by civil society.
Against the backdrop of a tenuous calm, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process today warned the Security Council that the Gaza Strip remains on the brink of an armed conflict that holds catastrophic consequences for some two million impoverished Palestinians living there.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Ma Zhaoxu (China):
With a new roadmap for peace in South Sudan facing persistent challenges, the integral involvement of women is vital, along with international support to ensure that the country’s leaders fulfil their responsibilities, the head of United Nations peacekeeping told the Security Council today.
On 16 November 2018, the Committee approved the addition of the entry specified below to the 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.
Delivering impassioned pleas on behalf of 14 million civilians teetering on the edge of famine in Yemen, senior United Nations and civil society leaders today briefed a largely unified Security Council on political and humanitarian steps forward, emphasizing that a new “window of hope” has now opened in that country’s devastating and overlooked war.
The Security Council today decided to extend until 15 May 2019 the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) ‑ operating in an oil-rich contested area on the border of Sudan and South Sudan ‑ while simultaneously reducing the Mission’s military troops and increasing its police presence.
