March 2017 Monthly Forecast

• Overview

  The UK will have the presidency in March. Read more

• Status Update

  Status Update since our February Forecast Read more

• Notable Dates

  Notable Dates for March Read more

• Visiting Mission to the Lake Chad Basin Region

  Council members will undertake a visiting mission to the Lake Chad Basin region at the beginning of March. The mission is intended to improve members’ understanding of the crisis in the vast area of operation of the terrorist group Boko Haram. Members will visit Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. Read more

• In Hindsight: Can the Security Council Prevent Conflict?

  One of the most important tasks the Security Council is mandated by the UN Charter to perform—and one of the things that it does least well—is to prevent violent conflict. In recent years, wars have erupted in the Central African Republic, Mali, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen, among other cases, while political solutions to long-standing conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Darfur, for example, have proved elusive, with civilians suffering the brunt of the fighting. Humanitarian crises have become more pronounced, and there are now some 65 million people displaced by conflict worldwide, the highest number since the establishment of the UN in the wake of World War II. Read more

• Syria

  In March, Council members expect to receive briefings on the humanitarian and political situation in Syria as well as on the use and production of chemical weapons. Read more

• Somalia

  In March, the Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), which expires on 31 March. The Council is awaiting recommendations from the Secretary-General on the UN’s role in Somalia in the post-election period and may opt for a technical rollover of UNSOM’s mandate until those recommendations can be duly considered. The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) is expected to submit its report on the Somali Security Forces to the Council by 30 March, as requested in resolution 2317. The Council will also receive a briefing by the Chair of the 751/1907 Somalia Eritrea Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Kairat Umarov (Kazakhstan). Read more

• Afghanistan

  In March, the Council will renew the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which expires on 17 March. It will also hold its quarterly debate on Afghanistan, during which it will consider the Secretary-General’s 90-day report on UNAMA. Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, is expected to brief. Read more

• Lebanon

  In March, Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag and the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations El Ghassim Wane will brief Council members in consultations on the Secretary-General’s report on the implementation of resolution 1701, which called for a cessation of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. The Council also expects to receive the Secretary-General’s strategic review of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), requested by resolution 2305 of August 2016. Read more

• Israel/Palestine

  In March, the Council expects to receive the first report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of resolution 2334 on Israeli settlements, adopted on 23 December 2016. The resolution requested the Secretary-General to report on its implementation every three months.  Read more

• Democratic Republic of the Congo

  In March, the Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), which expires on 31 March.  Read more

• DPRK (North Korea)

  In March, the Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution to renew for another 13 months the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the 1718 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Sanctions Committee.   Read more

• South Sudan

  In March, the Council will meet to consider the Secretary-General’s 90-day report on UNMISS and his 30-day assessment focusing on the deployment and future requirements of the RPF, obstacles to setting up the force and impediments to UNMISS in carrying out its mandate. Secretary-General António Guterres and AU High Representative for South Sudan Alpha Oumar Konaré are expected to brief the Council in a meeting chaired by UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Boris Johnson. The UNMISS mandate expires on 15 December 2017.  Read more

• Non-Proliferation (1540 Committee)

  In March, the chair of the 1540 Committee, Ambassador Sacha Sergio Llorentty Solíz (Bolivia), who succeeded Ambassador Román Oyarzun (Spain) on 1 January, is scheduled to brief the Council on the work of the Committee, which deals with the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Read more

• UNDOF (Golan)

  In March, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations will brief Council members in consultations on the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). The Secretary-General’s report is due on 19 March. No outcome is expected. Read more

• Yemen

  In March, the Council is expected to receive a briefing from the Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. The chair of the 2140 Yemen Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Koro Bessho (Japan), may also brief. Read more