Overview
Australia will hold the presidency of the Council in November. The country’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will preside over an open debate on global efforts to counter terrorism, violent extremism and the growing threat of foreign terrorist fighters. The Secretary-General will brief.
Debates will be held on:
- Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a briefing by High Representative Valentin Inzko; and
- Kosovo, with a briefing by Special Representative Farid Zarif.
Briefings are expected on:
- cross-cutting thematic issues in UN Policing by Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous;
- issues related to UN Sanctions across the different sanctions regimes, by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman;
- developments concerning ICC cases in Libya by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda; and
- the work of the 1540 Committee on non-proliferation and weapons of mass destruction, by its chair, Ambassador Oh Joon (Republic of Korea).
Briefings, followed by consultations, are expected on:
- developments in Burundi, by Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, the head BNUB and by Ambassador Paul Seger (Switzerland), the chair of the PBC Burundi configuration;
- developments in Liberia, by Ladsous, and Ambassador Mårten Grunditz (Sweden), chair of the PBC Liberia Configuration;
- the Middle East, by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jens Anders Toyberg-Frandzen;
- the work of the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee by its chair, Ambassador María Cristina Perceval (Argentina);
- the situation in Guinea-Bissau and the work of UNIOGBIS by its head Miguel Trovoada and the chair of the PBC Guinea-Bissau configuration Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota (Brazil);
- the situation in Iraq by the Special Representative Nikolay Mladenov and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein; and
- the humanitarian situation in Syria, most likely by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos.
Briefings in consultations are likely on:
- destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons by Special Adviser Sigrid Kaag;
- the work of the 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee, by its chair, Ambassador Sylvie Lucas (Luxembourg); and
- implementation of resolution 1701 on Lebanon, by Special Coordinator Derek Plumbly.
Formal sessions will be needed to adopt resolutions to renew:
- the mandate of UNMISS in South Sudan;
- the mandate of UNIOGBIS in Guinea-Bissau;
- counter-piracy measures for Somalia; and
- the authorisation for the EU-led multinational stabilisation force in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In November, the Council will also hold an election (concurrently with the General Assembly) for five judges of the International Court of Justice.
The president of the Council will present its annual report to the General Assembly late in the month.
The annual Council workshop with newly elected members organised by Finland is also planned for November.
A public wrap-up session is scheduled for the end of the month.
Throughout the month members will be following closely events in the Central African Republic, Mali, Ukraine and Yemen as well as events related to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, further meetings may be required.