Security Council

The Security Council in December planned to intensify its focus on the Sahel, particularly the crisis in Mali, along with continued consideration of a range of situations around the world, the Permanent Representative of Morocco said as he briefed correspondents at Headquarters on the programme of work for his country’s presidency of the body.

The following Security Council press statement was issued on 1 December by Council President Mohammed Loulichki (Morocco):

With women caught in the crossfire in Mali, Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other conflict-affected countries, the world must ramp up support and efforts to ensure their vital voices were heard, heeded and included in peacekeeping and peacebuilding, and beyond, top United Nations officials told the Security Council today during a day-long debate on women and peace and security.

The Security Council this morning commended Sierra Leone on the holding of successful presidential, parliamentary, district and local elections, calling upon all political parties and candidates to accept the results and to work with the Government in a constructive manner, through national dialogue and reconciliation.

On 30 November 2012, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo added the following two individuals to the List of Individuals and Entities Subject to the Measures Imposed by paragraphs 13 and 15 of resolution 1596 (2005).

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq remained an important factor in helping that country to “stay the course” and complete its transition to an inclusive, stable and prosperous democracy in the face of a national political stalemate and regional turmoil that had left it vulnerable to extremist violence, the Mission chief Martin Kobler told the Security Council today.

Failure to resolve security, economic and political problems in South Sudan continued to have a direct impact on the country’s fragile stability and security, the United Nations’ top peacekeeping official told the Security Council this morning during a briefing on recent events.

Reiterating its demand for an end to any and all outside support to the insurgency ravaging the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Security Council today renewed until 1 February 2014 the arms embargo and related sanctions on that country, and requested the Secretary-General to extend the mandate of the Group of Experts monitoring those measures.

On 26 November 2012, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) approved the deletion (delisting) of the entries specified below from the Al-Qaida Sanctions List. The assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 1989 (2011) therefore no longer applies to the following entries:

Following the Gaza escalation, which last week brought the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the “brink of a crisis that could have engulfed the region”, it was more vital than ever not only to bring a sustainable end to violence, but to achieve a fair and lasting peace, the Secretary-General’s Personal Representative told the Security Council this morning.