Security Council

The situation in parts of eastern and southern Ukraine had seen “further severe deterioration”, with fresh events — including the downing of two helicopters — threatening to destabilize the country and the region, the Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs told the Security Council today.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President U. Joy Ogwu (Nigeria):

On 29 April 2014, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) concerning Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities removed the name of the individual below from the Al-Qaida Sanctions List.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) until 30 April 2015.

The “emerging spirit of compromise” of the 17 April Joint Geneva Statement on Ukraine appeared to have evaporated amid different interpretations of the document and fresh violence in the eastern and southern parts of the country, including the shooting of a local mayor, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs told the Security Council today.

The Security Council today decided to modify the sanctions regime imposed on Côte d’Ivoire for a period ending on 30 April 2015, and to extend the mandate of the Group of Experts tasked with monitoring those measures until 20 May 2015.

With the nine-month-long peace negotiations between them suspended, Israelis and Palestinians should reflect on whether they wished to live up to their stated commitment to a two-State solution, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today.

The Security Council capped its open debate on security sector reform today with the adoption of its first stand-alone resolution on the topic, reaffirming the importance of such reform in stabilizing countries recovering from conflict and resolving to prioritize reform aspects in both peacekeeping and special political mission mandates.

Rape was a “cheap and devastating weapon” affecting thousands of women, children and men and demanded the Security Council’s singular attention and action, senior officials told the 15-member body as more than 60 delegates expressed a range of views during a day-long debate on conflict-related sexual violence.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President U. Joy Ogwu (Nigeria):