Council’s Programme of Work for September
Ethiopia is the president of the Council in September. The month begins with a Council visiting mission to Addis Ababa for the 11th annual joint consultative meeting between members of the UN Security Council and members of the AU Peace and Security Council. The following week Council members will be briefed by Ambassador Tekeda Alemu (Ethiopia), the Council lead for the mission to Addis Ababa, on the visiting mission. There will also be a briefing by Special Representative Haile Menkerios on the report of the Secretary-General on strengthening the partnership between the UN and AU.
There will be a summit-level open debate on peacekeeping operations planned for the high-level week of the General Assembly’s 72nd session on the follow-up to the report of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO). Secretary-General António Guterres and Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Chairperson of the AU Commission, and former chair of HIPPO, Jose Ramos Horta, are expected to brief the Council. A resolution may be adopted as an outcome.
There will be two briefings related to counter-terrorism. The Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, Ambassador Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta (Egypt), and the Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization, Fang Liu, will brief the Council on security in civil aviation, in accordance with resolution 2309. A presidential statement may be adopted as an outcome.
The second counter-terrorism meeting will take place in late September where the head of the newly-created UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, Under-Secretary-General Vladimir Voronkov, is expected to brief the Council for the first time. The newly-appointed Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, Michèle Coninsx (Belgium), is also likely to participate.
Resolutions on the mandates of peace operations in Colombia and Libya are expected to be adopted in September: The Council is expected to adopt a resolution on the size, operational aspects, and mandate of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia. Ahead of this adoption, a briefing from the Special Representative and head of the UN Mission in Colombia, Jean Arnault, is scheduled. An adoption is also expected for the renewal of the mandate of UNSMIL (Libya) ahead of its expiry on 15 September.
Sudan and South Sudan continue to be a focus this month with briefings and consultations on the activities of UNAMID in Darfur and UNMISS in South Sudan. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix will brief on Darfur and Special Representative David Shearer will provide an update on the activities of UNMISS and deployment of the Regional Protection Force.
There will also be a briefing and consultations on the activities of UNSOM by Special Representative Michael Keating and Special Representative of the AU Commission Chairperson for Somalia Francisco Madeira.
In addition, a briefing on developments in the Lake Chad Basin region, required by resolution 2349, is expected this month.
There are several regular Middle East issues on the programme in September. Council members will receive public briefings, to be followed by consultations, on humanitarian and political issues in Syria from Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock and Staffan de Mistura, respectively. There will also be consultations on Syria chemical weapons, including on the work of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM).
Other Middle East issues include the regular monthly briefing and consultations on Israel/Palestine. Nikolay Mladenov is expected to brief. On Yemen, there will be an update possibly by Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
Regarding Asian issues, the Council will hold a debate on UNAMA in Afghanistan with a briefing by Special Representative Tadamichi Yamamoto.
Ambassador Sebatiano Cardi (Italy) chair of the 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee is expected to provide the quarterly briefing on the DPRK, which had originally been expected in August. Following the launch of a ballistic missile over Japan on 28 August, and the adoption of a presidential statement, members are expected to consider ways of further increasing pressure on the DPRK.
In addition, Council members will watch closely developments in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali and depending on developments in Mali, may adopt a sanctions resolution. The Council may also begin negotiations on a draft resolution on accountability for ISIL crimes in Iraq.
