What's In Blue: March 2016
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Tomorrow (31 March), the Council will have a briefing followed by consultations on South Sudan, at the request of the US. This is a follow-up to its 17 March presidential statement which stated that it would review progress made by...
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Tomorrow (31 March), the Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution extending the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the 1970 Libya Sanctions Committee until 31 July 2017. The draft resolution also extends until the same date the...
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Tomorrow (30 March), the Council is set to renew the mandate of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) until 31 March 2017 at its current troop level. The draft text of the resolution...
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Tomorrow morning (29 March), Ambassador Ismael Gaspar Martins (Angola) and Ambassador Román Oyarzun (Spain) will co-chair an Arria-formula meeting on food security, nutrition, and peace. Members are expected to discuss the interlinkages between food security and peace in the context...
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Extensive discussions in the Security Council on Western Sahara over the last week culminated on Thursday evening (24 March) in the President presenting only basic press elements, a reflection of the deep divisions among Council members on how to interpret...
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On Monday (28 March), at the initiative of Angola, the Security Council will hold an open debate on the role of women in conflict prevention and resolution in Africa. Angola circulated a concept note on 7 March in preparation for...
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Tomorrow morning (24 March), the Security Council is scheduled to adopt a resolution extending the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the 1718 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Sanctions Committee. The proposed text, which was put in blue...
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Tomorrow (24 March), the Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) until 30 March 2017. It seems negotiations went smoothly, with few contentious issues. Council members held one...
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On Monday (21 March), a ministerial-level open debate on the prevention and resolution of conflicts in the Great Lakes Region will be held, at the initiative of Security Council president, Angola. A draft presidential statement was circulated late Thursday evening...
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This afternoon (18 March), Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein; Ambassador Jürg Lauber, the chair of the Peacebuilding Commission’s (PBC) Burundi Configuration; Permanent Representative Albert Shingiro of Burundi; and Permanent Representative Tuvako Manongi...
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Tomorrow morning (18 March), Ukraine will chair an Arria-formula meeting on the human rights situation in Crimea. The meeting will be open to the wider UN membership as well as to other UN entities. Volodymyr Yelchenko, the Permanent Representative of...
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This afternoon (17 March), the Security Council is scheduled to adopt a presidential statement on the situation in South Sudan. It seems that the purpose of the statement is to pressure the parties into implementing the peace agreement, a process...
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This afternoon (17 March), Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman will brief Council members in consultations on Western Sahara. The meeting, requested yesterday by the Secretariat, comes amid a public dispute between Morocco and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, which culminated in...
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Tomorrow afternoon (17 March), the Security Council will hold its semi-annual debate on the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Special Representative and head of mission Sandra Honoré will brief on the situation in the country and present the Secretary-General’s...
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Tomorrow (15 March), the Security Council is scheduled to hold its quarterly debate on Afghanistan and adopt a resolution renewing the mandate of UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for an additional year. Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head...
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Tomorrow (15 March), the Security Council is scheduled to adopt a technical rollover resolution renewing until 15 June the current mandate of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), which is due to expire tomorrow. Council members met only once...
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On Monday morning (14 March), at the request of the US, Security Council members are expected to meet in consultations to discuss Iran’s recent ballistic missile launches. It seems that a briefing by the Department of Political Affairs has been...
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On Monday (14 March), Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura will brief Council members, via video link from Geneva, presumably on the results of the first day of the intra-Syrian proximity talks, expected to begin that day. These will be the...
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Tomorrow (10 March), the Secretary-General will brief the Security Council on his annual report to the General Assembly on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (A/70/729). The US circulated a draft resolution late last week supporting many...
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Dakar (8 March) – Members today completed the final leg of their visiting mission to West Africa, in Dakar, Senegal. The Council programme included a visit to the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), where members received...
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Bissau (7 March) – Security Council members were in Guinea-Bissau today for the third day of their visiting mission to West Africa. They arrived later than expected as their plane was diverted to Dakar due to heavy fog. As a...
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BAMAKO (6 February): Today, Security Council members held several meetings in Mali’s capital, Bamako. On their last day of the Mali leg of their visiting mission to West Africa, Council members, led by France and Senegal, met with key stakeholders...
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BAMAKO, MOPTI and TIMBUKTU. On their first day in Mali, Council members spent most of the day in Mopti and Timbuktu, following a meeting with Prime Minister Modibo Keita in Bamako. The visit to Timbuktu marked the first visit by...
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Tomorrow Council members will begin a visiting mission to Mali, Guinea Bissau and Senegal. This will be the Council’s third visit for both Guinea Bissau (2003 and 2004) and Mali (2000 and 2014), and its first to Senegal, where the...
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Tomorrow (3 March), the Security Council will be briefed by OCHA head Stephen O’Brien. This will be followed by consultations, where the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed is expected to brief via video-teleconference from Dubai. Assistant...
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Tomorrow (2 March) New Zealand and Uruguay are co-hosting a closed Arria-formula meeting with the heads of human rights components of five UN peace operations. Council members have used the closed Arria-formula format to meet with the heads of human...
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Angola assumes the Security Council presidency today for the month of March. Several African issues will be addressed this month. Angola has planned a ministerial-level open debate on the Great Lakes region with a focus on natural resources as a...
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Tomorrow (2 March) the Security Council is scheduled to adopt a short resolution renewing the South Sudan sanctions regime for an additional six weeks until 15 April and the mandate of the Panel of Experts for ten weeks until 15...