What's In Blue

Programme of Work for July 2019

Peru is the president of the Security Council in July.

As one of its priorities for the month, Peru is organising a briefing under the agenda item “Peacebuilding and sustaining peace” focused on strengthening partnerships for nationally-owned transitions. Peru’s Foreign Minister Néstor Popolizio is expected to chair the session. Secretary-General António Guterres and Franck Bousquet, Senior Director of the World Bank’s Fragility, Conflict and Violence Group, are the anticipated briefers. The chair of Peacebuilding Commission, Ambassador Guillermo Fernández de Soto Valderrama (Colombia), and a representative of the African Development Bank may brief as well.

In addition, Peru plans to hold an open debate on the link between terrorism and organised crime.  Briefings are anticipated from UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director Yury Fedotov and Tamara Makarenko, an international consultant for the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI). Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) Executive Director Michèle Coninsx may brief as well.  A resolution on this issue may be adopted during the open debate or later in the month.

A debate on strengthening cooperation between the Council, the Secretariat and troop- and police-contributing countries in peacekeeping operations is also anticipated. Briefings are expected by Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix; Dennis Gyllensporre, the Force Commander of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA); and Alexandra Novosseloff, Senior Fellow of the International Peace Institute’s Urquhart Center on Peace Operations.

There will also be a briefing this month on implementing the youth, peace and security agenda. Jayathma Wickramanayake, the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth; Wevyn Muganda, Programme Coordinator of HAKI Africa; and Sofia Ramyar, Executive Director of Afghans for Progressive Thinking are expected to deliver briefings.

The Security Council expects to hold its semi-annual debate in July on the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), which was established in 2010 to carry out the remaining essential functions of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) after their respective closures. The IRMCT’s president, Judge Carmel Agius, who assumed the presidency on 19 January, is expected to brief during the debate and to meet with the Informal Working Group on International Tribunals prior to this. The IRMCT’s prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, may also brief the Council.

Early in the month, the Special Representative and head of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), Natalia Gherman, is scheduled to brief Council members in consultations on the UNRCCA’s activities.

A discussion under “any other business”, featuring a briefing by Special Envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener, is also planned early in the month.

A visiting mission to Colombia is planned for 11-14 July. A briefing by Special Representative and head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia Carlos Ruiz Massieu, followed by consultations, on the Secretary-General’s 90-day report is also scheduled for later in the month.

The other issue in the Americas on the programme this month is Haiti. Council members are scheduled to hold consultations to discuss the transition of the UN Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH) to a special political mission that will start on 16 October. Members will also be briefed in consultations on the Secretary-General’s 90-day report on MINUJUSTH, most likely by Lacroix.

July will be a busy month for issues related to the Middle East. On Yemen, Special Envoy Martin Griffiths is expected to brief the Council on the implementation of resolutions 2451 and 2452. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock and General Michael Lollesgaard, the chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) and head of the UN Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), may brief as well. The Council is expected to renew the mandate of UNMHA, which expires on 16 July.

The Council will receive the monthly briefings on the use of chemical weapons, the political process, and the humanitarian situation in Syria. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu will brief members in consultations on the use of chemical weapons in Syria, while Special Envoy Geir Pedersen will brief members in consultations on the political process.  Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock will deliver the briefing to the Council on the humanitarian situation in Syria; this will be followed by consultations.

Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov is expected to brief (via video teleconference) during the quarterly open debate on the Middle East (Israel/Palestine).

It is anticipated that Special Adviser Karim Khan will brief the Council this month on the activities of the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (UNITAD).

Briefings in consultations are expected from Ján Kubiš, Special Coordinator for Lebanon, and Lacroix on the implementation of resolution 1701, which called for a cessation of hostilities between the Shi’a militant group Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.

African issues on the programme in July include Libya, West Africa and the Sahel, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Council is planning to receive a briefing from the Special Representative and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Ghassan Salamé, and the chair of the 1970 Libya Sanctions Committee, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany, Ambassador Jürgen Schulz. This will be followed by consultations.

Mohammed Ibn Chambas, Special Representative and head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), will brief the Council on developments in the region and the semi-annual UNOWAS report. Consultations are scheduled to follow.

The Council is also scheduled to hold a briefing, followed by consultations, on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the work of the 1533 DRC Sanctions Committee. Special Representative and head of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) Leila Zerrougui and Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi (Kuwait), the chair of the DRC Sanctions Committee, are possible briefers.

Ukraine and Cyprus are the European issues on the programme in July. Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo and OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Lamberto Zannier are potential briefers for a meeting on Ukraine.

Special Representative and head of mission Elizabeth Spehar is scheduled to brief members in consultations on the latest UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) report and recent developments. The Council is planning to renew the mandate of  UNFICYP ahead of its 31 July expiry.

An informal interactive dialogue will be held this month on the challenges and opportunities of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for international peace and security.

Non-proliferation is in the footnotes of the programme of work. Meetings on this and other issues could be scheduled during the month.

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