The Security Council had rallied to consensus on several important issues in December, the Permanent Representative of Chad and President of that body said in a monthly wrap-up meeting, as members stressed the need to press ahead on issues and areas where they had failed to produce results.
On 19 December 2014, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 751 (1992) and 1907 (2009) concerning Somalia and Eritrea approved the removal of the individual specified below from the List of individuals and entities subject to the travel ban, assets freeze and targeted arms embargo imposed by paragraphs 1, 3 and 7 of resolution 1844 (2008).
During an all-day open debate presided over by the Foreign Minister of Chad, the Security Council called for international action to prevent terrorists from benefiting from transnational organized crime, through securing borders and prosecuting illicit networks.
As negotiations between the permanent five members of the Security Council plus Germany, known as the P5+1, and Iran continued, measures imposed against that country remained in full effect and States had an obligation to implement them fully, the Chair of the 1737 Committee told the 15-member body today.
In two separate resolutions this afternoon, the Security Council decided to extend the term of office of judges of the International Tribunals handling serious crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the early 1990s, while requesting both courts to complete their work as expeditiously as possible.
Fresh from its first peaceful transfer of power from one elected leader to another, Afghanistan had made “significant” progress on its path towards a stable future, the United Nations top official in the Central Asian country told the Security Council today, encouraging the new unity Government to appoint a merit-based Cabinet, address budgetary pressures and launch its “ambitious” new programme of governance reforms.
At its 51st meeting, on 26 November, the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict agreed, in connection with the examination of the first report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic (S/2014/31), to address the following message to all parties to the armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic through a public statement by its Chair:
Recalling that stabilizing the security situation in the Central African Republic was the main responsibility of that country’s stakeholders, the Security Council today reiterated its appeal to the leaders of the ex-Séléka and anti-Balaka groups, among other armed groups, to “immediately and permanently” lay down their weapons, release children from their ranks and embark on a path of dialogue.
The Security Council this morning renewed the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which has supervised the ceasefire between Israel and Syria since 1974, for an additional next sixth months, until 30 June 2015.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Mahamat Zene Cherif (Chad):
