Overview
Bolivia takes on the presidency of the Council in June. A visiting mission to Haiti is planned in the second half of the month, followed by an oral briefing.
There will be two briefings under the agenda item “maintenance of international peace and security”. The first briefing will be at ministerial-level with Bolivian President Evo Morales presiding and will focus on “Preventive Diplomacy and Transboundary Waters”. Secretary-General António Guterres is expected to brief. The second is on a “Comprehensive Approach to Mine Action and Explosive Hazard Threat Mitigation” with Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix briefing.
Other briefings this month include: UN counter-terrorism efforts against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL); post-conflict peacebuilding; and UN-AU cooperation.
There will also be an open debate on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction focused on the work of the 1540 Committee.
The Council will follow closely developments in Libya with a briefing expected from the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of UNSMIL, Martin Kobler. It will also renew the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the 1970 Libya Sanctions Committee, the authorisation to inspect vessels suspected to be violating the arms embargo, and the measures regarding attempts to illicitly export crude oil from Libya.
Meetings on several other African issues this month include:
- Burundi, an update on the situation;
- Central Africa, the regular meetings on the activities of UNOCA and MINUSCA;
- Côte d’Ivoire, a final update and an adoption of a presidential statement marking the closure of UNOCI;
- Democratic Republic of the Congo, the renewal of the 1533 sanctions regime and mandate of its Group of Experts;
- Liberia, an update on UNMIL and the roll-out of the peacebuilding plan;
- Mali, the renewal of MINUSMA;
- Somalia, the renewal of UNSOM;
- Sudan, the renewal of UNAMID and the semi-annual briefing by the ICC prosecutor; and
- South Sudan, an update on UNMISS.
Council members will continue to monitor developments in Syria, and meetings are planned on the political, humanitarian, and chemical weapons tracks. Other Middle East issues considered this month are:
- Golan Heights, the renewal of UNDOF;
- Israel/Palestine, the regular monthly briefing; and
- Iran, the implementation of resolution 2231, which endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Regarding Asian issues, the Council will meet on UNAMA in Afghanistan as well as on the activities of the UNRCCA in Central Asia.
The Council’s semi-annual debate on the ad hoc international criminal tribunals, including the ICTY and the Residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, will be held in June.
Finally, the General Assembly is scheduled to elect six non-permanent Security Council members on 2 June. Unusually, there are six candidates this year instead of five, as Italy will relinquish the seat it has held since 1 January 2017 after serving for one year, and a by-election will thus be held for one seat for the Western European and Others Group (WEOG). All six candidates—Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Peru and Poland—are currently running unopposed as sole candidates for their respective regional groups.
