What's In Blue

Programme of Work for November 2019

The UK is the president of the Security Council this month. It has decided to hold an open debate on reconciliation, which appears to be a follow-up to an open debate during its last presidency (August 2018), on mediation, where reconciliation issues also figured in the discussion.

Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed will brief Council members on her recent visit to the Horn of Africa focused on women, peace and security early in the month. A representative from the AU is expected to brief as well.

Last month’s women, peace and security open debate will also resume early in the month, after the debate was cut short due to UN austerity measures with 44 members still on the speaker’s list.

The sixth annual briefing with heads of police components of peacekeeping operations will be held in early November. Under-Secretary-General for UN Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix and UN Police Adviser Luís Carrilho are expected to brief. The heads of police components of three UN peacekeeping operations will also brief: Awale Abdounasir, the police commissioner of the UN Organization Stabilization Operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); Mary Gahonzire, the police commissioner of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA); and Issoufou Yacouba, the police commissioner of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

Several meeting on the Middle East are scheduled this month. The Council will hold its monthly meetings on Syria’s political and humanitarian situations and the use of chemical weapons in the country. Special Envoy Geir O. Pedersen is expected to brief on political developments, while Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock is likely to brief on the humanitarian situation.  Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Fernando Arias, is expected to brief the Council on the use of chemical weapons in the country.

On Iraq, Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, the Special Adviser and head of the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD), is expected to brief the Council on UNITAD’s work.   Consultations will follow.

There will also be a monthly briefing and consultations on the Middle East (Israel/Palestine).  Special Coordinator Nickolay Mladenov may provide the briefing.

Consultations on the implementation of resolution 1701, which called for a cessation of hostilities between the Shi’a militant group Hezbollah and Israel in 2006, are scheduled this month.

The Council will receive its monthly briefing on Yemen from Special Envoy Martin Griffiths. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock and General Abhijit Guha, the chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) and head of the UN Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), are also likely to brief. Consultations are scheduled to follow the briefing.

The Council will also address several African agenda items in November. The mandate of two peacekeeping missions will be renewed in November: the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).  A meeting with MINUSCA troop-contributing countries is expected to take place this month.

On Guinea-Bissau, the Council has agreed to a presidential statement that expresses full support to the ECOWAS and AU communiques issued respectively on 29 and 30 October, following President José Mário Vaz’s dismissal of the government of Aristides Gomes on 28 October. It seems the adoption of the Council statement will be on Monday, 4 November.

The Council is scheduled to adopt a resolution on the Somalia sanctions regime, which will address the partial lifting of the arms embargo on Somali security forces; the authorisation for maritime interdiction to enforce the embargo on illicit arms imports and charcoal exports; and humanitarian exemptions to the sanctions regime.

The Council is expected to adopt a resolution renewing the mandate of the 751 Somalia Sanctions Committee Panel of Experts, which is due to expire on 15 December.

Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) James Swan is scheduled to brief the Council on UNSOM’s work. Consultations are expected to follow.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda will provide the semi-annual briefing on the court’s work on Libya.

There will also be a briefing, followed by consultations, on the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). The Special Representative and head of UNSMIL, Ghassan Salamé, may provide the briefing via video-teleconference.

Consultations on the strategic review of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) are scheduled this month.

There will also be a briefing on the Joint Force of the Group of Five for the Sahel.

On Europe, the Council will hold its semi-annual debate on Bosnia and Herzegovina. High Representative Valentin Inzko is expected to brief on the latest report of the Office of the High Representative (OHR).

The Council will also need to renew the authorisation of the EU-led multinational stabilisation force (EUFOR ALTHEA), which expires on 6 November.

There will be consultations on the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

The one Asian issue on the agenda this month is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The chair of the 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Christoph Heusgen (Germany), will brief in consultations.

The 15 current Council members and the incoming five (Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia, and Vietnam) will participate in the annual “Hitting the Ground Running” workshop, organised by Finland.

Several Arria-formula meetings are anticipated as well, including on radicalisation in prisons, children and armed conflict and reintegration, environment and security, and human rights defenders.

Non-proliferation and Ukraine are in the footnotes of the programme. Meetings on these and other issues could be scheduled during the month.

 

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