Security Council

The Security Council met this afternoon to continue its open debate on the situation in the Middle East, including the question of Palestine.  Nearly 30 Member States were expected to make remarks on the situation in Gaza.

The Security Council today failed to adopt its first-ever resolution on outer space — one that would have affirmed the obligation of all States parties to fully comply with the Outer Space Treaty, including not to place in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, install such weapons on celestial bodies or station such weapons in outer space in any other manner.

The Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza urged the Security Council today to scale up assistance to meet the immense needs of the civilian population in Gaza, also warning that an Israeli military operation in Rafah would compound the existing humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip.

The security situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is deteriorating as fighting escalates between the 23 March Movement (M23) rebel group and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), and that country trades accusations with neighbouring Rwanda over alleged support for proxies in the ongoing conflict, the UN’s top official in the region warned the Security Council today.

The global escalation of conflict-related sexual violence — disproportionately affecting women and girls — must be addressed through demilitarization, enforcement of arms embargoes, gender-responsive arms control and strengthened accountability, the Security Council heard today during its annual open debate on the matter.

On 5 April, the Panel of Experts on South Sudan briefed the members of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2206 (2015) in connection with the Panel’s final report, which was submitted in pursuance of paragraph 19 of resolution 2683 (2023).

While tensions have simmered in recent months due to an inability to address long-standing issues through dialogue, the senior United Nations official in Kosovo told the Security Council today that the establishment of a community of Serb-majority municipalities could provide a solution to normalization, as speakers also urged Belgrade and Pristina to recommit to European Union-facilitated dialogue.

The first quarter of 2024 was the deadliest for Haitians with around 2,500 people killed or injured in gang violence, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council, calling for the urgent deployment of the Multinational Security Support Mission authorized by the 15-member body in October 2023.

One year after fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group brutally interrupted Sudan’s democratic political transition, the outlook for its people is bleak, as conflict continues to rage, and the risk of famine is imminent, a senior United Nations official today told the Security Council, urging scaled-up action by the parties to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian access.

During an era of “profound uncertainty” and as the international rules-based order “is being rigorously tested”, the Head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) told the Security Council today that belief in the multilateral system is at the core of the regional group’s agenda for 2024, as it focuses on resolving conflicts in the region including the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine.