Security Council

The Security Council today unanimously approved the creation of a 12,600 member peacekeeping force in the West African nation of Mali, strongly condemning the January offensive by armed groups towards the south and stressing that terrorism could only be defeated by a sustained and comprehensive approach to isolate the terrorist threat.

Welcoming the commitment of the parties to continue the process of negotiation through United Nations sponsored talks to find a political solution to the long-standing dispute in Western Sahara, the Security Council today extended through 30 April 2014 the mandate of the United Nations Mission there.

Concerned that the circulation of weapons continued to pose “significant” risks to the stability of Côte d’Ivoire, the Security Council today extended its arms embargo, as well as financial and travel measures, against the West African nation, until 30 April 2014.

Of the view that post-conflict peacebuilding must meet the expectation of ensuring the durability of the peace efforts that preceded it, speakers in the Security Council today reaffirmed the Peacebuilding Commission’s role to prevent a relapse of conflict and support the initiatives of recovering Governments and societies to own and lead the process of rebuilding and leaving the trauma behind.

It was now very clear how the United Nations should support the Somali Government through 2016, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs told the Security Council in a briefing this afternoon, citing the Secretary-General’s vision for a new United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia, grounded in real needs and a well-thought out analysis of the objective reality in that country.

As the “grim” tragedy inside Syria continued to deteriorate, it was even more vital that all parties worked collectively to preserve stability in the Middle East, Jeffrey Feltman, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told the Security Council today, stressing that advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was central to ensuring the region did not risk further destabilization.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Eugène-Richard Gasana (Rwanda):

On 22 April 2013, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) enacted the amendments specified with strikethrough and underline in the entries below to its List (the 1988 List) of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2082 (2012) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations:

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Eugène-Richard Gasana (Rwanda):

Describing the situation in Syria as a “humanitarian catastrophe” with ordinary people paying the price for the failure to end the conflict, a senior United Nations official said today that even amid that grim reality and the possibility looming that humanitarian programmes critical to ease the suffering might have to be shut down, the Security Council had been unable to reach the consensus needed to support a political resolution to the crisis.