Overview
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has the presidency of the Security Council in November. Although the Council held several meetings in the Council chamber in October, COVID-19 infections at the mission of a member state led to the suspension of in-person meetings in late October, and it is unclear when they will resume.
St Vincent and the Grenadines has chosen to hold a high-level open debate on “contemporary drivers of conflict and insecurity”, under the Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace agenda. The Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, will chair the meeting. The expected briefers are Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed; Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Ibrahim Mayaki; Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies Sir Hilary Beckles; and possibly the President of the Economic and Social Council, Ambassador Munir Akram (Pakistan).
There will be the biannual briefing, followed by consultations, on the Joint Force of the Group of Five for the Sahel (FC-G5S), which Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger (G5 Sahel) established in 2017 to combat terrorist and criminal groups in the region.
Several meetings on Somalia are expected. The Council is scheduled to adopt a resolution renewing several elements of the Somalia sanctions regime that will expire on 15 November. Additionally, the Council is expected to hold a meeting on the implementation of the mandates of UNSOM and AMISOM.
Regarding Libya, there will be a briefing on the ICC by the Prosecutor and a briefing and consultations on UNSMIL.
Adoptions are also anticipated to renew the mandates of MINUSCA (Central African Republic) and UNISFA (Abyei).
The regular meetings on Syria, Yemen and the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question, are also on the November programme of work. On Syria, there will be an open and closed meeting on the political and humanitarian situation and a closed meeting on the use of chemical weapons. The meetings on developments in Yemen and on the situation in the Middle East are planned in both open and closed format.
Other meetings on the Middle East include:
- Iraq, with briefings and consultations on UNAMI and UNITAD; and
- Lebanon, consultations on resolution 1701.
On Europe, the Council will hold its semi-annual debate on Bosnia and Herzegovina and renew the authorisation of the EU-led multinational stabilisation force.
Regarding the DPRK, the chair of the 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Christoph Heusgen (Germany), will brief in consultations. The sixth annual briefing with heads of police components of peace operations will be held in early November. In addition, the Security Council and the General Assembly will elect five judges to the International Court of Justice to commence their term on 6 February 2021.
The 15 current Council members and the incoming five (India, Ireland, Kenya, Norway, and Mexico) will participate in the annual “Hitting the Ground Running” workshop organised by Finland.
