Overview

 

Tunisia has the presidency in January. It has chosen to hold an open debate on the challenges faced by countries in fragile contexts, in particular on the African continent. Possible briefers include UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Chair of the AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat and former President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Tunisia is also organising a debate on threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, focusing on international cooperation in combating terrorism, to commemorate 20 years since the adoption of resolution 1373 in 2001. The anticipated briefers are Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism Vladimir Voronkov and CTED Executive Director Michèle Coninsx.

Tunisia’s two other signature events are expected to be briefings on the implementation of resolution 2532, which demanded a cessation of hostilities in all situations on the Council’s agenda to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Under-Secretaries-General for political, peacekeeping and humanitarian affairs as expected briefers; as well as on cooperation between the Council and the League of Arab States (LAS) with the UN and LAS Secretaries-General as likely briefers.

Regarding the Middle East, there will be the regularly scheduled meetings on Syria, the monthly meeting on developments in Yemen, and the quarterly debate on the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question. On Syria, there will be a meeting covering the political and humanitarian situations as well as on the use of chemical weapons.

On African issues, there will be updates on the activities of UNSMIL (Libya) and MINUSMA (Mali). The Council may also adopt a resolution supporting the compliance of all national and international stakeholders with the 23 October 2020 ceasefire agreement between the parties to the Libyan conflict.

Meetings on situations in South America and Europe are also expected in January. The Council will be briefed on the Secretary-General’s 90-day report on the UN Verification Mission in Colombia. On Cyprus, Council members will be briefed on the latest report on UNFICYP, and the Council is expected to renew the mandate of the mission by the end of the month.

The Council is expected to receive updates on the activities of two UN regional offices: UNOWAS (West Africa) and UNRCCA (Central Asia).

Council members will most likely closely follow developments in the Central African Republic, Ethiopia and South Sudan, although no meetings on these issues were scheduled at press time.