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Latest post: Fri 7 Feb 2025Insights on the work of the UN Security Council
Counter-Terrorism: Briefing on the Secretary-General’s Strategic-Level Report on ISIL/Da’esh
On Monday morning (10 February), the Security Council will convene for a briefing on the Secretary-General’s 20th biannual strategic-level report on the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh). Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism and Head of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) Vladimir Voronkov and Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) Natalia Gherman are expected to brief.
Voronkov and Gherman are likely to report that the threat posed by ISIL remains undiminished. The Secretary-General’s report (S/2025/72), which was circulated to Council members on 31 January, notes that ISIL continues to demonstrate resilience and adapt its modus operandi despite the steady progress made by member states in targeting its leadership and financial operations. The report also says that the group’s propaganda output “remained extensive” and indicates that it still has access to “significant cash reserves”, estimated at approximately $10 million in Iraq and Syria alone.
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This afternoon (4 February), Security Council members will convene for closed consultations on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question” (MEPQ). China, the Council’s president for February, scheduled the meeting following the receipt of a letter dated...
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China is the president of the Security Council in February. Council members adopted the provisional programme of work for the month earlier today (3 February). China has chosen to organise one signature event, a high-level open debate on “Practicing Multilateralism,...
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Tomorrow morning (31 January), Security Council members will convene for closed consultations on Sudan, at the request of Denmark and the UK (the penholder on the file). Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace...
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Tomorrow morning (31 January), the Security Council is scheduled to vote on a draft resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for another year, until 31 January 2026. The negotiations on the draft resolution appear to have...
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This afternoon (30 January), Security Council members will convene for closed consultations on Myanmar. Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar Julie Bishop and Head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva and Director of...
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Tomorrow morning (30 January), Security Council members will convene for closed consultations on Syria. Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen is expected to brief via videoconference (VTC) from Damascus. Algeria, January’s Council president, called for the meeting in its...
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This afternoon (28 January), the Security Council will meet for its second urgent meeting this week on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Algeria, January’s Council president, convened the meeting after the DRC’s Minister of Foreign...
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Tomorrow morning (28 January), the Security Council is expected to hold an open briefing on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question” (MEPQ). Algeria requested the meeting to discuss the situation of the UN Relief and Works...
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This afternoon (27 January), the Security Council will convene to receive the semi-annual briefing of International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Asad Ahmad Khan on the ICC’s Darfur-related work. (For background on the ICC’s work on Darfur and the situation...
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Tomorrow morning (26 January), the Security Council will convene for a briefing on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). France, the penholder on DRC, requested the meeting following a 21 January letter (S/2025/7) from DRC’s Minister...
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This afternoon (24 January), the Security Council adopted a presidential statement on counter-terrorism. The presidential statement was proposed by Algeria in connection with its signature event on counter-terrorism in Africa, which began on 21 January, and the vote took place...
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This afternoon, the Security Council is scheduled to vote on a draft resolution setting a date for the election to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of the former President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Judge Nawaf...
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Tomorrow (24 January), Russia will convene an Arria-formula meeting on Ukraine titled “Beyond the Battlefield: Atrocities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Against Civilians”. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia (Russia) is expected to make opening remarks. The anticipated briefers, who will participate...
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Tomorrow (23 January) the Security Council is expected to hold a briefing on “Cooperation between the Security Council and the League of Arab States”. The briefers will be: Mohamed Khaled Khiari, the Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the...
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Tomorrow morning (22 January), the Security Council will hold a briefing on Colombia. The expected briefers are Special Representative and Head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia Carlos Ruiz Massieu and a civil society representative who will focus on...