Overview

 

The United Kingdom will hold the Council’s presidency in November. An open debate on the maintenance of international peace and security with a focus on peaceful societies and conflict prevention has been planned. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to brief and the UK Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening, will preside. A briefing on the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) as well as piracy issues off the coast of Somalia, by Ban and his Special Representative and head of UNSOM, Nicholas Kay, is expected to be presided over by UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is expected to participate.

A debate is planned on Bosnia and Herzegovina with a briefing by High Representative Valentin Inzko.

Briefings are expected on:

• the Libya-related work of the ICC, by its Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda;
• the humanitarian situation in Syria, by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien;
• the work of the police components of peace operations, by Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Hervé Ladsous and senior police officers from three peace operations: Greg Hinds, Police Commissioner of United Nations Mission in Liberia, Pascal Champion, Police Commissioner of United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Charles Bent, Deputy Police Commissioner of United Nations Mission in South Sudan;
• the implementation of the UN integrated strategy for the Sahel, by Special Envoy Hiroute Guebre Sellassie;
• recent developments in and the latest Secretary-General’s report on Kosovo, by Zahir Tanin, the recently appointed Special Representative and head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, with both Serbia and Kosovo likely to participate at high-level; and
• the Secretary-General’s report on the implementation of recommendations from the report of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, most likely by the Secretary-General.

Briefings, followed by consultations, are expected on:

• the work of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and recommendations from the strategic assessment mission conducted by the Secretariat in April, by UNAMI’s head, Ján Kubiš; and
• the situation in the Middle East by Special Coordinator Nikolai Mladenov, via video teleconferencing (VTC).

Briefings in consultations are planned on:

• the work of the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee by its chair, Ambassador Rafael Dario Ramirez Carreño (Venezuela);
• the Secretary-General’s report on the implementation of resolution 1701 regarding a cessation of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006, by Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag, via VTC;
• the work of the 1718 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Sanctions Committee by its chair, Ambassador Román Oyarzun Marchesi (Spain);
• the latest Secretary-General’s report on chemical weapons in Syria, by Acting High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Kim Won-soo;
• Sudan/South Sudan issues, by Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan Haile Menkerios (via VTC); and
• developments regarding the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei, most likely by Ladsous.

Formal sessions will be held to adopt resolutions to renew:

• the anti-piracy measures for Somalia; and
• the authorisation for the EU-led multinational stabilisation force in Bosnia and Hercegovina, EUFOR ALTHEA.

Council members will hold their customary annual private meeting with the president of the International Court of Justice, Ronny Abraham (who succeeded Peter Tomka in this post in February 2015).

Throughout the month members will be following closely developments in Burundi, Central African Republic, Libya, Ukraine, Western Sahara and Yemen, and additional meetings may be scheduled.

The 15 current Council members and the incoming five (Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay) will participate in the annual “Hitting the Ground Running” workshop outside of New York City, organised by the Mission of Finland.