Status Update

DRC: On 2 August, the Council released a press statement (SC/10736), condemning attacks by the M23 rebel group and calling for the cessation of all outside support to M23. The statement followed a 30 July briefing by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), Roger Meece, via video-teleconference.  On 27 August, the Council was briefed by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, on the humanitarian effects of the fighting in eastern DRC. On 28 August, the DRC Sanctions Committee met with the Foreign Minister of Rwanda, Louise Mushikiwabo, concerning the report by the DRC Group of Experts on Rwanda’s support of the M23. On 29 August the Council held an informal interactive dialogue with the Foreign Minister and then with DRC representatives about the situation in the region.

UNRCCA (Central Asia): On 7 August, Council members received a briefing in consultations from Miroslav Jenča, the head of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA). The members of the Council reportedly reaffirmed the importance of preventive diplomacy and early warning mechanisms in the peaceful settlement of disputes in the region. The importance of the role of UNRCCA in facilitating the assistance by Central Asian states to normalising the situation in Afghanistan, which affects the region more broadly, was also highlighted.

Lebanon: On 21 August, Council members met with UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) troop-contributors in closed consultations. In a letter to the Security Council dated 14 August (S/2012/632), the Secretary-General recommended extending the mission’s mandate for 12 months. Council members met in further consultations to discuss the Secretary-General’s letter on 23 August. The Security Council adopted resolution 2064, extending UNIFIL for 12 months to 31 August 2013, on 30 August.

Kosovo: On 21 August, Farid Zarif, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), briefed the Council on the latest UNMIK report and recent developments in Kosovo (S/PV.6822). Zarif emphasised the need for both Serbia and Kosovo to fully implement previously reached agreements and to resume the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. Serbia’s new Prime Minister, Ivica Dačić, said that resolving the final status of what Serbia calls “Kosovo and Metohija” was one of the government’s top priorities. He thanked the majority of member states “which respect Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Kosovo’s Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi reaffirmed that Pristina was committed to the dialogue with Serbia, but that the “territorial integrity of Kosovo” would never be put into question, describing his state as a “political and juridical fact.” Several members urged for a quick resumption of delayed talks between the two sides.

DPRK (North Korea): A regular quarterly briefing by the chair of the 1718 Sanctions Committee, Ambassador José Filipe Moraes Cabral (Portugal), took place on 21 August in consultations.  It was the first 90-day briefing since the renewal of the mandate of the Panel of Experts, which assists the Committee, on 12 June. There was no outcome from the meeting.