Monthly DPA Briefing on Emerging Issues
Tomorrow (28 July) Council members will receive their monthly briefing on emerging issues from DPA head, Lynn Pascoe. It seems that tomorrow’s briefing is likely to cover Pascoe’s recent visit to Egypt and Tunisia as well as provide updates on Syria and Somalia.
It seems that Pascoe’s focus when he visited Egypt and Tunisia from 16 – 19 July was on how the UN could support the democratic transitions taking place in the two countries.
The briefing on Somalia is likely to focus on Pascoe’s meetings with Somali leaders during his visit to Mogadishu on 21 July. His discussions focused on a range of issues including the implementation of the Kampala Accord, the adoption of the road map and the end of the transitional period, and the joint consultative meeting which is expected to be held by 20 August.
Some Council members are particularly interested in Pascoe’s briefing on Syria. At the moment these DPA briefings provide an opportunity to discuss Syria without it being formally on the agenda. Both a draft resolution and the more recent idea of a Special Adviser seem to still be on the table, but there has not been much progress with either initiative.
An initiative outside the Council, but involving Council members, is the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum ( IBSA ) proposal which seems to involve a demarche to Damascus. It appears that Brazil, India and South Africa would prefer the Council to refrain from any action until the IBSA initiative can be undertaken. However other members seem to want more details about the IBSA proposal. Tomorrow’s briefing may be an opportunity for Council members to discuss the various proposals further.
