Overview 

In November, Sierra Leone will hold the presidency of the Security Council.    

Sierra Leone plans to organise two signature events during the month. The first one will be an open debate on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW). Sierra Leone’s President, Julius Maada Bio, will chair the meeting. Officer-in-Charge of the Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Adedeji Ebo, is the anticipated briefer.  

The second signature event is a high-level open debate on conflict-related food insecurity under the “Threats to international peace and security” agenda item. Bio is expected to chair the meeting. UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, and African Union Special Envoy on Food Systems Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki are expected to brief.  

Additionally, Sierra Leone will convene a briefing on “Climate and security—environmental impact of armed conflict and climate driven security risks” under the “Threats to international peace and security” agenda item. The anticipated briefers are Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs; Inger Andersen, the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP); Charles C. Jalloh, Professor of Law at the University of Miami and member of the International Law Commission; and a civil society representative.  

In November, the Council will also hold its annual open debate on working methods. Ambassador Christina Markus Lassen (Denmark), co-chair of the Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions (IWG), will brief. Shamala Kandiah Thompson, Executive Director of Security Council Report, and Loraine Sievers, co-author of “The Procedure of the UN Security Council” (4th Edition), are also expected to brief.  

African issues on the programme of work in November are:    

• Libya, the semi-annual briefing by the ICC concerning the Court’s work in the country and reauthorisation of measures under resolution 2292 to inspect vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya;    

• Sudan/South Sudan, briefing and consultations and mandate renewal of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA);   

• South Sudan, briefing and consultations on the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS);  

• West Africa and the Sahel, briefing on the situation in the region; and  

• Central African Republic (CAR), renewal of the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).  

Middle Eastern issues include:    

• Syria, monthly meeting on political and humanitarian developments;   

• Yemen, monthly meeting on developments, briefing by the chair of the 2140 Yemen Sanctions Committee, and renewal of the 2140 Yemen sanctions regime and the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the 2140 Yemen Sanctions Committee; 

• Lebanon, consultations on the implementation of resolution 1701, which was adopted in 2006 and called for a cessation of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel; and  

• “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”, the monthly meeting, with the possibility of additional meetings depending on developments.    

On non-proliferation issues, consultations are scheduled on the work of the 1718 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Sanctions Committee.  

Counter-terrorism issues also feature on the programme of work this month. The Council is expected to receive a briefing from the chairs of the three counter-terrorism-related committees: the 1267/1989/2253 Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee, the 1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), and the 1540 Committee, which assists member states in preventing non-state actors from obtaining access to weapons of mass destruction.   

The Security Council and General Assembly will both hold elections for the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in November.  

The 15 current Council members and the incoming five—Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Latvia, and Liberia—will participate in the annual “Hitting the Ground Running” workshop organised by Finland on 6 and 7 November.   

Other issues, including Sudan and Ukraine, could be raised in November depending on developments.