Status Update
Cooperation between the UN and regional and subregional organisations in maintaining international peace and security: On 4 May the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the EU, Catherine Ashton, spoke at a Council meeting on cooperation between the EU and the UN (S/PV.6306). It was her first appearance before the Council following the entry into force of the EU Lisbon Treaty last December. Ashton highlighted EU’s growing cooperation with the UN in specific situations like Darfur, the DRC, Kosovo, Chad, Afghanistan and Haiti and in areas such as conflict prevention, mediation and peacebuilding.
Nepal: In consultations on 5 May Council members discussed the Secretary-General’s report on Nepal (S/2010/214). The Representative of the Secretary-General and head of UNMIN, Karin Landgren briefed the Council. On 12 May resolution 1921 was adopted renewing UNMIN’s mandate till 15 September 2010. The Secretary-General issued a statement on 27 May expressing concern about the failure of the parties in Nepal to reach agreement to extend the term of the Constituent Assembly.
Burundi: On 10 May the Security Council was briefed on the country’s upcoming elections by BINUB’s head, Charles Petrie, Permanent Representative Zacharie Gahutu of Burundi, and Heidi Grau of Switzerland, on behalf of the Swiss Permanent Representative who chairs the PBC country-specific configuration for Burundi (S/PV.6309). The briefing was followed by consultations. Petrie said that the groundwork for the elections had been prepared but challenges remained, including the possibility of post-election tensions (SC/9921).
Counter-Terrorism: The chairs of the Council’s three counterterrorism committees, the 1267 Committee (Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions), the 1373 Committee (Counter-Terrorism Committee, or CTC) and the 1540 Committee (weapons of mass destruction and terrorism) briefed the Council on 11 May. (The chairs of the three committees brief the Council jointly twice each year.)
Ambassador Claude Heller of Mexico delivered a joint statement on behalf of the three committees. He reported that the three expert groups continued to share information on reporting issues and coordinate joint country visits. In his capacity as chair of the 1540 Committee, Heller said that the committee’s comprehensive review confirmed that the resolution has been successful in prompting member states to take concrete steps to prevent non-state actors from developing or using nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, though some continue to fall short of addressing all the resolution’s requirements.
Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan of Turkey, chair of the CTC, reported that the committee had recently streamlined some of its working methods to reduce committee time spent on the adoption of preliminary implementation assessments of member states’ implementation of resolution 1373 and had focused on utilising informal briefings to member states to improve the committee’s thematic discussions.
Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting of Austria, chair of the 1267 Committee, said the committee was in the final phase of reviewing names on its consolidated list and would do its utmost to meet the 30 June deadline for completing this work. He also said a number of candidates had applied for the position of Ombudsperson, which was mandated in resolution 1904 (2009), and that the Committee was in the process of finalising its consultations and would then convey its views to the Secretary-General.
Twelve member states not on the Council also participated and made statements.
Somalia: On 12 May the Council heard a briefing on the Secretary-General’s latest Somalia report (S/2010/234) by his Special Representative Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, followed by a debate in which Somali Deputy Prime Minister Abdurahman Ibrahim, and AU’s Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramtane Lamamra, also spoke (S/PV.6313). Ould-Abdallah stressed that the most effective approach to improving the situation in Somalia was to continue supporting the Transitional Federal Government and at the same time asking it to make progress in areas under its responsibility. He said the recovery and reconstruction conference on Somalia held in Istanbul from 21 to 23 May should be seized as an exceptional opportunity for the international community to demonstrate its support for Somalia.
Kosovo: On 17 May the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of UNMIK, Lamberto Zannier, briefed the Council on the latest UNMIK report (S/2010/169) in an open meeting (S/PV.6314). In addition to Council members, the foreign ministers of Serbia and Kosovo, Vuk Jeremić and Skender Hyseni, also spoke in the debate. Zannier reported that direct cooperation between Belgrade and Pristina on practical issues remained limited. While he described the security situation in Kosovo as stable, Zannier also stressed that the lack of progress on reconciliation between communities and economic difficulties could lead to social unrest.
Middle East: On 18 May the Security Council was briefed by Robert Serry, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, followed by consultations (S/PV.6315). Serry reported on the start of US-mediated proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority which were being closely followed by the Quartet and the need for a different and more positive strategy towards Gaza (SC/9929).
Horn of Africa: On 19 May the president of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh, presented his views on the situation in the Horn of Africa in an open Council meeting (S/PV.6316). (Djibouti had sent a request earlier in May for its president to address the Council on these issues.) Concerning the situation in Somalia, Guelleh stated that a new approach by the international community was needed to save the Transitional Federal Government, which in his view was threatened by “imminent demise” and whose authority was shrinking fast. The first priority must be to restore law and order in Mogadishu to ensure the functioning of the government and expansion of its authority. In relation to Djibouti’s border dispute with Eritrea, Guelleh asserted that the Eritrean occupation of his country’s territory was a matter of the gravest national security concern and warned against any notion that the recent meetings in Asmara between Eritrean officials and Mexican ambassador Claude Heller in his capacity as chair of the Eritrea/Somalia sanctions committee was a sign that Eritrea was becoming more cooperative. He therefore urged the Council to address “the wider implications of Eritrea’s intransigence and increasing violence”.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: On 24 May the Council was briefed (S/PV.6319) by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Valentin Inzko, on his latest report to the Council (S/2010/235). Serbia, Croatia and the EU also spoke at the meeting. While Inzko underlined that considerable progress had been made in terms of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s relations with the EU and NATO and that regional cooperation also had improved, he said the political situation inside the country had in fact deteriorated and that the authority of the Dayton Peace Agreement and of his office continued to be challenged. He also asserted that there had been no further progress on the five objectives and two conditions established by the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board in February 2008 for the closure of his office.
MINURCAT: On 25 May, the Council held an open debate on MINURCAT (S/PV.6321). The Council adopted resolution 1923 extending the mandate of MINURCAT until 31 December 2010. In this arrangement, UN troops will be reduced from its current 3,300 to 2,200. The military component in Chad will be 1900 and 300 will remain in Central African Republic. The Council called upon the Secretary-General to implement the initial withdrawal of the exceeding number of troops by 15 July, with a final withdrawal to begin on 15 October 2010. All military and civilian personnel are to be withdrawn by 31 December 2010. The Council also took note that the Government of Chad had committed itself to take full responsibility for the security of the civilian population in the eastern part of the country, and requested the Government and the Secretary-General to establish a joint high-level working group to make monthly assessments of the situation on the ground with respect to the protection of civilians.
Intercultural Dialogue for Peace and Security: On 26 May the Prime Minister of Lebanon presided over a Council meeting on the theme of intercultural dialogue (S/PV.6322). (Lebanon distributed a concept paper for the meeting, S/2010/248.) Hariri said that a resolution, along the lines of the Arab Peace Initiative, to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would have “substantial impact on relations between cultures and religions” and that a just and durable peace would allow for the success of dialogue to achieve “genuine rapprochement between the Western world and the Arab and Muslim worlds.” (SC/9936)
Peacekeeping: Council members had informal consultations with Head of the Peacekeeping Department Alain Le Roy and Chief of Field Support Susana Malcorraon 27 May on a range of peacekeeping issues.
DRC: On 28 May the Council extended the mandate of the UN peacekeeping presence in the DRC for 13 months (S/RES/1925). On 1 July MONUC will become the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO). Earlier on 27 May the Council discussed the interim report of the DRC Sanctions Committee’s Group of Experts (S/2010/252) in closed consultations. On 19 May Permanent Representative of France Gerard Araud briefed the Council on the13-16 May Council mission to the DRC. The Council visited Kinshasa and met with President Joseph Kabila, Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito and Cabinet ministers, as well as parliamentarians, international agencies and civil society. Also on 19 May Kevin Kennedy, the DPKO team leader for the Great Lakes region briefed Council experts in a closed session on the outcome of the interagency mission to the DRC to assess on the implementation of MONUC’s conditionality policy. On 10 May Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes briefed the Council on his early May visit to the DRC. Holmes visited South Kivu, Orientale Province and Equateur Province.
