What's In Blue

Posted Tue 4 Aug 2015

Security Council’s August Programme of Work

This morning (4 August), Council members adopted their programme of work for August. At press time, only one adoption is planned for the month, with the Council expected to extend the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for another year, ahead of its 31 August expiry.

Nigeria, the Council president for the month, has chosen as a centerpiece of its presidency to hold an open debate on regional organisations and contemporary challenges for maintaining international peace and security, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expected to speak. Nigeria will also highlight security sector reform this month, in a meeting with briefings by Assistant Secretary-General for the Rule of Law and Security Institutions Dmitri Titov and Special Representative on Sexual Violence Zainab Bangura; security sector reform was a focus of previous Nigerian Council presidencies in October 2011 and April 2014. A briefing on Ebola has been planned; Margaret Chan, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, and David Nabarro, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Ebola, will brief on the lessons learned from the Ebola crisis.

Another briefing is anticipated on the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK); Farid Zarif, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of UNMIK, will brief on the situation there.

There will be several briefings followed by consultations in August, including on: UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA); the Middle East (Israel/Palestine); UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and South Sudan Sanctions; UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL); the humanitarian situation in Syria; and the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS). Special Representative Babacar Gaye will brief on the most recent MINUSCA report, and Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman will brief on the Middle East. On South Sudan, Under-Secretary-General Hervé Ladsous is expected to brief on UNMISS, while Ambassador Cristián Barros of Chile, the chair of the 2206 South Sudan Sanctions Committee, will brief members on the committee’s recent work. Bernardino León, Special Representative and head of UNSMIL, is expected to brief on the situation in Libya, while Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien will brief on the humanitarian situation in Syria. Miguel Trovoada, the Special Representative and head of UNIOGBIS, will brief on the situation in Guinea-Bissau. It is possible that Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, chair of the Guinea-Bissau configuration of the Peacebuilding Commission, may participate in the meeting.

Consultations are anticipated on several matters. Consultations will be held on chemical weapons in Syria, with Acting High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Kim Won-soo briefing. Yemen consultations are planned, with a briefing expected by Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. Council members will hold consultations on UNIFIL prior to renewing the UNIFIL mandate later in the month. Bangura is likely to brief members in consultations on her April visit to the Middle East.

While the South Sudan sanctions regime will be discussed in an open briefing followed by consultations, briefings in consultations are expected on three other sanctions committees. Ambassador Dina Kawar of Jordan, chair of the 1521 Liberia Sanctions Committee, is expected to brief Council members in consultations on that committee’s work. There will be a briefing on the work of the 1718 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Sanctions Committee by its chair, Ambassador Román Oyarzun of Spain. Finally, Ambassador Rafael Ramírez of Venezuela will brief on the work of the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee, which he chairs.

A wrap-up session at the end of the month is anticipated as well.

Ukraine and the Security Council’s annual report are in the programme’s footnotes, and could be addressed during the month. The Council is also likely to follow closely the volatile situation in Burundi, and it is possible that it may meet on this matter.

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