Overview
Kuwait will have the presidency in February and has chosen as its centrepiece a ministerial-level briefing on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter in the maintenance of international peace and security, with the Secretary-General as the main speaker. It is also planning to hold an open debate on working methods (Kuwait is the chair of the Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions).
There will be two counter-terrorism briefings this month: one on UN counter-terrorism efforts against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, by Under-Secretary-General Vladimir Voronkov, the head of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism; and the other on a report from the 1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) on the implementation of resolution 2341 concerning critical infrastructure.
The Council will be following closely the outcome of the January meetings on Syria in Vienna and Sochi. It will have the regular briefings on the political and humanitarian situation and on chemical weapons, but depending on developments more meetings may be scheduled.
Other Middle East issues that will be considered are:
- Iraq, an update on the activities of UNAMI;
- Israel-Palestine, the regular monthly meeting;
- Yemen, an update on the political process and humanitarian situation, and the renewal of the 2140 sanctions regime and the mandate of its Committee‘s Panel of Experts.
The Council will continue to follow developments in South Sudan and will be briefed on the Secretary-General’s confidential 30-day report on the deployment of the Regional Protection Force. It is also expected to receive the recommendations of the Secretary-General on the strategic review of UNMISS.
There will be discussions on two more African issues:
- Burundi, an update on recent developments; and
- developments in the Central African Republic and activities of MINUSCA.
Two mandate renewals are expected this month: the mandate of the Panel of Experts of the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee and the mandate of UNIOGBIS in Guinea-Bissau. Ahead of the adoption on Guinea-Bissau, the Council will meet for a briefing and consultations on the situation.
The Council will have its quarterly meeting on UNMIK (Kosovo) and another on the activities of the 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee. Other issues that the Council will be following closely include the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Myanmar.
