Briefing the Security Council today on the outcome of a recently completed review of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), officials voiced concern over such challenges as the politicization of the peacekeeping operation’s protection of civilian sites, urging the 15-member organ to consider those elements in the upcoming renewal of — and possible adjustments to — its mandate on the ground.
Against a backdrop of political tensions and a calm but volatile security situation in Burundi, heightened attention was needed to prevent the country from reversing hard-won gains, the Secretary‑General’s Special Envoy told the Security Council today.
The Security Council today unanimously decided to renew a travel ban, assets freeze and arms embargo against those threatening peace and security in Yemen, rejecting an alternate draft, vetoed by the Russian Federation, that would have spotlighted specific non‑compliance by Iran identified by the expert panel mandated to monitor those measures.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Mansour Ayyad Sh. A. Alotaibi (Kuwait):
The Security Council, acting unanimously today, adopted a resolution demanding parties to Syria’s seven-year-long conflict to cease hostilities without delay for at least 30 consecutive days, ensuring a “durable humanitarian pause” to enable weekly humanitarian aid deliveries and medical evacuations of the critically sick and wounded.
Despite pleas for an immediate, united call to action to stop the bloodshed and killing that was plunging parts of Syria into “hell on Earth”, the Security Council remained divided in how to effectively halt hostilities in eastern Ghouta, where thousands remained trapped amid ongoing bombardment.
Widespread violence and a lack of humanitarian aid in the Central African Republic had put half the population at risk, but Government efforts to restore State authority and protect civilians were laying the groundwork for peace, the United Nations top official in the country told the Security Council today.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Mansour Ayyad Sh. A. Alotaibi (Kuwait):
The Security Council must swiftly and effectively discharge all its power and responsibilities to overcome emerging threats and prevent massacres, genocide and the killing of civilians around the world and immediately in Syria, members heard today while they considered the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
Held up as a shining example of positive developments in the region, Iraq had succeeded in overcoming many obstacles, yet challenges remained to establish lasting stability, the Special Representative of the Secretary‑General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) told the Security Council today.
