Status Update since our August Forecast
Counter-Terrorism
On 5 August, the Security Council convened for a briefing on the Secretary-General’s 23rd biannual strategic-level report (S/2026/638) on the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) to international peace and security (S/PV.10205). The briefers were Oguljeren Niyazberdiyeva, the Chief of the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism (OUSG) at the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), and Carmen G. Cantor, the Deputy Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED).
On 6 August, the members of the Security Council issued a press statement condemning suicide terrorist attacks outside a police station in Kabal, Swat District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan, on 2 August 2026 (SC/16428). The attack resulted in the deaths of at least 16 Pakistani nationals. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
South Sudan
On 6 August, the Security Council held an open briefing on the situation in South Sudan and the work of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) (S/PV.10206). Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS Anita Kiki Gbeho briefed on the Secretary-General’s latest 90-day report (S/2026/640), which was circulated to Council members on 31 July and covered developments from 16 April to 15 July. Interim Chairperson of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) Major General (retired) George Aggrey Owinow and Founder and President of the South Sudan Women’s Empowerment Network Lilian Riziq also briefed. Closed consultations followed the open briefing.
On 27 August, Council members issued a press statement condemning in the strongest terms an attack by armed individuals on an UNMISS force-protection convoy in Jonglei State, which killed two peacekeepers and injured seven others. Council members stressed that attacks against UN peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law and called for a full, transparent, and immediate investigation. They also expressed deep alarm at persistent intercommunal and armed violence in Jonglei State and its impact on civilians, humanitarian workers, and peacekeepers.
Ukraine
On 10 August, Latvia and the UK, with co-sponsorship from Ukraine, convened an Arria-formula meeting titled “Implementing international humanitarian law: prisoners of war, civilian detainees and foreign fighters, in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine”. According to the concept note circulated by the co-organisers, the objective of the meeting was to draw attention to the treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees in Russian custody, alleged violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and what the note describes as the deceptive and coercive recruitment of foreign nationals into the Russian armed forces.
The briefers included: Claudia Fuentes Julio, the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights and Head of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in New York; Leniie Umerova, a Crimean Tatar activist and human rights defender; Khuan Alberto Leyva Garsiya, a solider in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, who spent more than three years in Russian captivity before his release in August 2025; Oleg Gushchyn, a Ukrainian lawyer and legal expert with the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, a Ukrainian governmental body that coordinates state activities related to compliance with the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions; and Sheida Kiran, a British-Turkish-Iranian documentary filmmaker who recently produced the film Into the Void: Putin’s Foreign Fighters, an investigation into the recruitment of foreign nationals to fight in the war.
On 24 August, the Council held an open briefing on the situation in Ukraine (S/PV.10212). The meeting coincided with the anniversary of Ukraine’s declaration of independence in 1991 and marked four and a half years since Russia’s invasion of the country on 24 February 2022. The Council’s five European members—Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, and the UK, collectively known as the “E5”—requested the meeting, which Denmark’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, chaired. Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher briefed, while Iceland, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine participated in the meeting under rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure.
1718 Sanctions Committee (DPRK)
On 11 August, Council members discussed in closed consultations the 90-day report on the work of the 1718 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Sanctions Committee. Ordinarily, the chair of the 1718 Sanctions Committee would brief Council members on the report. At the time of writing, however, the chair had not been appointed, as members remained unable to agree on the allocation of the Council’s subsidiary bodies for 2026. Denmark, which held the Council presidency in August, therefore briefed members on the report, consistent with recent practice.
Yemen
On 7 August, Security Council members issued a press statement expressing concern at heightened tensions in Yemen (SC/16429). The statement condemned “unauthorized landings of aircraft at Sana’a International Airport on 3 July and Hudaydah Airport on 13 July, without permissions and clearances from the Government of Yemen in violation of international civil aviation rules, and missile attacks launched by the Houthis against Saudi Arabia since 13 July, as well as commercial vessels since 22 July”.
On 13 August, the Security Council held a briefing on the situation in Yemen (S/PV.10208). UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher briefed. Yemen participated in the meeting under rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure.
Libya
On 18 August, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Hanna Serwaa Tetteh briefed the Council on recent political, security, and humanitarian developments in the country and the Secretary-General’s latest report on UNSMIL (S/2026/661). While noting progress on the political process and UNSMIL-facilitated roadmap, Tetteh noted that Libya continues to face numerous challenges on the domestic front. She expressed concern over the fragile security situation along the country’s western coast and recent power and water disruptions across the country.
Working Methods
On 19 August, the Security Council held its annual open debate on working methods (S/PV.10210 and Resumption I). The open debate was convened under the agenda item “Implementation of the note by the President of the Security Council (S/2024/507)”, referring to the most recent version of the comprehensive compendium of Council working methods. Shamala Kandiah Thompson, the Executive Director of Security Council Report, briefed. Besides Council members, 49 member states participated in the meeting. Among the issues raised were the need for greater transparency in the process of selecting the next Secretary-General, the lack of agreement in the appointment of subsidiary body chairs, and penholderships.
Georgia
On 20 August, following the closed consultations on the work of the 1718 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Sanctions Committee, Council members discussed the situation in Georgia under “any other business” (AOB). The E5 requested the meeting to mark the 18th anniversary of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war. Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations (DPPA-DPO) Mohamed Khaled Khiari briefed.
Conflict and Food Insecurity
On 25 August, the Security Council held a high-level open debate on conflict-related food insecurity under the agenda item “Maintenance of international peace and security” (S/PV.10213, Resumption I, and Resumption 2). The meeting, titled “Food under fire: the Security Council’s role in mitigating global and local food rises” was a signature event of Denmark’s August Council presidency and was chaired by Denmark’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Lars Løkke Rasmussen. Secretary-General António Guterres briefed. He expressed concern at the record numbers of people facing food insecurity worldwide due to conflict, while urging Council members to use all tools available to prevent and end conflicts, including resolution 2417, to mitigate the impact of conflict on food systems. Carl Skau, the Acting Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), also briefed the Council and spoke about several situations where conflict and hunger are in a vicious cycle. He also warned of a new dimension in which certain conflict zones—such as those in the Black Sea, the Red Sea, and the Strait of Hormuz—have created choke points that have impacted food and energy supplies and threatened to push tens of millions more into hunger. Perrine Benoist, the Co-CEO of Action Against Hunger, representing the Coalition Against Conflict and Hunger, briefed as well.
Lebanon
On 28 August, Security Council members held closed consultations on Lebanon. France, the penholder on Lebanon, called the meeting in light of the deteriorating situation in the south of the country and to begin discussion of possible arrangements after the termination of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo and Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix briefed.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
On 28 August, at Russia’s request, Security Council members discussed the death of Ratko Mladić under “any other business” (AOB) following the closed consultations on Lebanon. Mladić was serving a life sentence at the UN Detention Unit in The Hague after being convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws or customs of war committed during the 1992-1995 conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). There were no briefers.
