Overview

China will have the Council’s presidency in February and is planning an open debate on the maintenance of international peace and security. The quarterly debate on Kosovo will be held, with a likely briefing by Farid Zarif, the Special Representative and head of the UNMIK. There will also be the annual briefing in February by the Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Ivica Dačić, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Serbia.

Briefings, followed by consultations, are expected on:

• Somalia and the latest Secretary-General’s report on the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia;
• the situation in South Sudan and the Secretary-General’s report on the UN Mission in South Sudan;
• the humanitarian situation in Syria;
• the situation in Iraq and the work of UNAMI by its head, Special Representative Nickolay Mladenov;
• developments in Guinea-Bissau by Miguel Trovoada, the head of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS), and Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota (Brazil), the chair of the Guinea-Bissau configuration of the Peacebuilding Commission; and
• the monthly Middle East meeting on Israel/Palestine.

Briefings in consultations are likely on:

• the situation in Yemen by Special Adviser Jamal Benomar;
• the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons;
• the Secretary-General’s report on the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA);
• the political track in Syria by Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura;
• the work of the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee by its chair, Ambassador Rafael Ramírez (Venezuela);
• the work of the 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee by its chair, Ambassador Román Oyarzun (Spain); and
• the work of the 751/1907 Somalia-Eritrea Sanctions Committee by its chair, Ambassador Rafael Ramírez (Venezuela).

Formal sessions will be needed to adopt resolutions to renew:

• the mandate of UNIOGBIS;
• the mandate of the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee’s Panel of Experts;
• the mandate of UNISFA; and
• the 2140 Yemen sanctions regime and the mandate of the associated Panel of Experts.

Throughout the month members will be following closely developments in the Central African Republic, Mali and Ukraine.