Côte d’Ivoire
October 2013
On 24 October, Council members were briefed in consultations by Ambassador Gert Rosenthal (Guatemala), chair of the 1572 Côte d’Ivoire Sanctions Committee, on the midterm report of the Group of Experts. The report observed progress related to exemption requests and notification procedures on the arms embargo. It also reported concern over the flow of weapons and ammunition in Côte d’Ivoire and the increased military power of the former Forces Nouvelles. It noted that diamonds continued to be smuggled and reported that the Group was investigating the reforms underway in Côte d’Ivoire related to natural resources and their impact with regards to arms embargo violations. The Group of Experts had presented its report and recommendations to the 1572 Sanctions Committee on 11 October.
July 2013
On 18 July, the Council was briefed by Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous on the most recent UNOCI report followed by consultations. Ambassador Youssoufou Bamba (Côte d’Ivoire) also participated. The briefing focused on the areas of security sector reform; disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration; justice and reconciliation; and the security situation. On 30 July, the Council adopted resolution 2112 renewing the mandate of UNOCI until 30 June 2014. The resolution mandated the reduction of the mission’s military component by 30 June 2014 and expressed the Council’s intention to consider a further reduction by 30 June 2015. The Council also requested the Secretary-General to refine the broad benchmarks presented in his latest report to include detailed and actionable objectives to measure progress as well as a detailed report reflecting the current division of labour between UNOCI and the UN country team.
