What's In Blue
Latest post: Wed 21 May 2025Insights on the work of the UN Security Council
Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: Annual Open Debate
Tomorrow (22 May), the Security Council will hold its annual open debate on the protection of civilians (PoC) in armed conflict. Greece, the Council president for May, is convening the meeting as one of its signature events. It will be chaired by Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs George Gerapetritis. The expected briefers are Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher, UN Women Executive Director Sima Sami Bahous, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, and President and Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children US Janti Soeripto.
The concept note (S/2025/301) that Greece prepared for the meeting highlights the changing nature of contemporary armed conflicts, marked by the widespread use of explosive weapons in populated areas, the deployment of new military technologies, cyber operations, and the increasing prevalence of misinformation and disinformation. These developments have compounded the risks to civilians and posed mounting challenges to humanitarian access and the safety of humanitarian, UN, and media personnel.
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On Friday afternoon (23 May), an Arria-formula meeting will be convened by Slovenia together with Algeria, Panama, and Sierra Leone that is titled “Freshwater Resources and Related Infrastructure under Attack: Protecting Water in Armed Conflict—Protecting Civilian Lives”. Several non-Council members—Costa...
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Tomorrow morning (21 May), the Security Council will hold its monthly meeting on the political and humanitarian situations in Syria. Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis is expected to chair the meeting. UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen and UN...
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Tomorrow morning (20 May), the Security Council will hold a high-level open debate titled “Strengthening Maritime Security through International Cooperation for Global Stability” under the “Maintenance of international peace and security” agenda item. Greece, the Council president in May, is...
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Tomorrow morning (19 May), the Security Council will convene for a private meeting to discuss the political, security, and humanitarian situations in Sudan. Greece, May’s Council president, scheduled the meeting following significant interest from Council members in discussing the situation in...
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Tomorrow morning (16 May), Security Council members will hold closed consultations to discuss the situation in Libya following a recent escalation of violence between armed groups in the capital Tripoli. The meeting was requested by the UK (the penholder on...
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Tomorrow afternoon (15 May), the Security Council will hold a briefing on the implementation of resolution 2474 of 11 June 2019 concerning missing persons in armed conflict. The UK and the US requested the meeting. Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle...
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Tomorrow morning (14 May), the Security Council will hold its monthly open briefing and closed consultations on Yemen. UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher will brief. A civil society representative focusing on the...
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This afternoon (13 May), the Security Council will hold a briefing under the agenda item “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question” (MEPQ). The meeting was requested by the Council’s European members—Denmark, France, Greece, Slovenia, and the...
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On Monday morning (12 May), Security Council members will convene for closed consultations on the African Union (AU) Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM). The consultations were requested by Somalia (which is currently an elected member of the Council...
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This afternoon (8 May), the Security Council is expected to vote on a draft resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) until 30 April 2026. While the draft resolution in blue retains UNMISS’ core mandated tasks, negotiations...
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On Thursday morning (8 May), the General Assembly and the Security Council will hold an informal interactive dialogue (IID) with the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) on the 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review (PBAR). The dialogue will open with introductory remarks by Cameroon,...
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Tomorrow morning (6 May), the Security Council will hold its semi-annual debate on Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). High Representative for BiH Christian Schmidt is scheduled to brief on the latest report of the Office of the High Representative (OHR), which was...
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This afternoon (5 May), Security Council members will meet in closed consultations under the agenda item “The India-Pakistan question”. Pakistan, which is currently an elected member of the Council for the 2025-2026 term, requested the meeting. Assistant Secretary-General for the...
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Greece is the president of the Security Council in May. Council members adopted the provisional programme of work for the month earlier today (1 May). As the signature event of its presidency, Greece is expected to convene a high-level open debate...
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This afternoon (30 April), the Security Council will convene for a private meeting on Myanmar. Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar Julie Bishop and Special Envoy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Chair on Myanmar Tan Sri...
