Security Council

The Security Council’s programme for April features open debates on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, and on conflict-related sexual violence, its President for the month told a Headquarters press conference today.

The Security Council today failed to adopt a resolution that would have extended until 30 April 2025 the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the Sanctions Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006) on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea due to a veto cast by the Russian Federation — a permanent member of the Council — while numerous speakers underscored that Moscow’s veto fuels suspicion and weakens the global non-proliferation architecture.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Yamazaki Kazuyuki (Japan):

While the elections recently held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were largely peaceful, the security and humanitarian situation in its east has further deteriorated, the Security Council heard today from the Head of the peacekeeping mission in that country, as it begins its phased withdrawal after 25 years.

Ahead of the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of a resolution aiming to prevent non-State actors from acquiring weapons of mass destruction, the head of the Security Council Committee tasked with its implementation today briefed the organ on the work of that subsidiary body over the past year.

On 15 March 2024, members of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2653 (2022) concerning Haiti held informal consultations to discuss the interim report of the Panel of Experts on Haiti, submitted in pursuance of paragraph 20 of resolution 2700 (2023).

While the humanitarian impact of the hostilities in Gaza has been cataclysmic and is worsening daily, violence and the relentless expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, continue at alarming levels, the head of United Nations peace efforts in the Middle East told the Security Council today, as delegates raised concern over non-compliance with the organ’s demand for a ceasefire.

The Security Council today did not hold a meeting, requested by the Russian Federation, to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 1999 aerial bombing campaign carried out by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) against the former Yugoslavia, having failed to adopt the provisional agenda to do so after a procedural vote was requested by France.

After 171 days of war in Gaza, the Security Council today adopted a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties, leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire, while many speakers underscored that this is only the first step towards a permanent ceasefire.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Yamazaki Kazuyuki (Japan):