Conflict Prevention and Mediation
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Today (18 January), the Security Council is scheduled to adopt a presidential statement on conflict prevention under the agenda item “maintenance of international peace and security”. The statement, which is based largely on agreed language from previous Council outcomes, passed...
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Tomorrow (20 December), the Security Council will hold an open debate on the theme “addressing complex contemporary challenges to international peace and security” at the initiative of Council president Japan. Secretary-General António Guterres will brief. The debate is expected to...
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The year 2017 marks the tenth anniversary of the Security Council’s earliest consideration of climate change. During the past decade, it has been a matter of some controversy whether or not the Council is an appropriate body to address this issue. Numerous Council members have underscored the security implications of climate change, but China, Russia and other countries have expressed concern that the Council’s engagement on this matter encroaches on the prerogatives of other UN organs, notably the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council. Despite the political tensions associated with addressing climate change, the Council has over time managed to engage with this issue in two open debates, in formal meetings covering a wide range of emerging threats to peace and security, and in informal Arria-formula meetings.
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In June, the Council will hold a high-level briefing on “Transboundary Waters and Preventive Diplomacy”. Secretary-General António Guterres is expected to brief. Bolivian President Evo Morales will preside. No Council product is anticipated.
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One of the most important tasks the Security Council is mandated by the UN Charter to perform—and one of the things that it does least well—is to prevent violent conflict. In recent years, wars have erupted in the Central African Republic, Mali, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen, among other cases, while political solutions to long-standing conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Darfur, for example, have proved elusive, with civilians suffering the brunt of the fighting. Humanitarian crises have become more pronounced, and there are now some 65 million people displaced by conflict worldwide, the highest number since the establishment of the UN in the wake of World War II.
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Security Council Report has published a report on conflict prevention.
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In February, the Council will hold a ministerial-level open debate on the maintenance of international peace and security, focusing on conflicts in Europe. Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs, will chair the debate. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has been invited to brief. Other briefers, though not yet confirmed, could include the representatives of the EU and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). At press time, it did not appear that there would be a Council outcome.
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Tomorrow (10 January), the Security Council will hold a ministerial-level open debate on “conflict prevention and sustaining peace”. Margot Wallström, Sweden’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, will preside. Ten Council members, as well as several non-Council members, are expected to be...
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In January, the Council will hold a ministerial-level open debate on “conflict prevention and sustaining peace”. Margot Wallström, Sweden’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, is expected to preside. Newly appointed UN Secretary-General António Guterres will be the sole briefer. At press time, it did not appear that there would be a Council product; however, it is anticipated that Sweden will produce a summary of the debate.
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This morning, Council members will be briefed on developments in The Gambia by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman in consultations. On Saturday (10 December), Council members issued a press statement that condemned President Yahya Jammeh’s announcement on Friday (9...
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This report addresses what the peace operations review requires of the Council, identifying how the Council’s usual conduct of business often undermines the objectives it sets for itself, whether in preventing conflict or in designing realistic mandates.
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Tomorrow morning (29 March), Ambassador Ismael Gaspar Martins (Angola) and Ambassador Román Oyarzun (Spain) will co-chair an Arria-formula meeting on food security, nutrition, and peace. Members are expected to discuss the interlinkages between food security and peace in the context...
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On Monday (28 March), at the initiative of Angola, the Security Council will hold an open debate on the role of women in conflict prevention and resolution in Africa. Angola circulated a concept note on 7 March in preparation for...
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On Monday (21 March), a ministerial-level open debate on the prevention and resolution of conflicts in the Great Lakes Region will be held, at the initiative of Security Council president, Angola. A draft presidential statement was circulated late Thursday evening...
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Dakar (8 March) – Members today completed the final leg of their visiting mission to West Africa, in Dakar, Senegal. The Council programme included a visit to the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), where members received...
