Programme of Work for December 2023
Ecuador is the president of the Security Council in December. Council members adopted the provisional programme of work for the month earlier today (1 December).
Ecuador has chosen to organise one signature event during its presidency. It will convene a ministerial-level open debate on transnational organised crime under the “Threats to international peace and security” agenda item. Ecuador’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, Maria Gabriela Sommerfeld, is expected to chair the meeting. The anticipated briefers are UN Secretary-General António Guterres, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director Ghada Fathi Waly, and a civil society representative. Ecuador apparently intends to propose a draft presidential statement in cooperation with France as a possible outcome of the meeting.
Ecuador will also convene an open debate on “Addressing the threat posed by diversion, illicit trafficking and misuse of small arms and light weapons and their ammunition to peace and security”. The meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss the Secretary-General’s biennial report on small arms and light weapons submitted pursuant to resolution 2220 of 22 May 2015, which Council members received on 1 November. The anticipated briefers are High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu, Deputy Director of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) Cécile Aptel, and a civil society representative.
The Security Council is scheduled to hold its semi-annual debate on the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT). The IRMCT’s president, Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, and its prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, are expected to brief during the debate and to meet with the Informal Working Group on International Tribunals prior to that.
As is customary in December, the outgoing chairs of subsidiary bodies are expected to provide a briefing on their experiences. Four members chaired subsidiary bodies during their 2022-2023 term, while Brazil’s permanent representative did not chair any subsidiary bodies. The representatives of the four members completing their two-year terms on the Council at the end of 2023 and their respective chairmanships are:
- Ambassador Harold Adlai Agyeman (Ghana)—the 2127 Central African Republic (CAR) Sanctions Committee, the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee, and the Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations;
- Ambassador Michel Xavier Biang (Gabon)—the 1533 Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Sanctions Committee, the 2653 Haiti Sanctions Committee, the Informal Working Group on International Tribunals, and the 2206 South Sudan Sanctions Committee;
- Ambassador Ferit Hoxha (Albania)—the Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions (IWG), the 1518 Iraq Sanctions Committee, the 1636 Lebanon Sanctions Committee, and the 2140 Yemen Sanctions Committee; and
- Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh (United Arab Emirates)—the 1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC); the 2048 Guinea-Bissau Sanctions Committee; and the working group concerning terrorist activities established by resolution 1566 of 8 October 2004.
Several African issues are on the agenda this month:
The Security Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). Prior to that, the Council is planning to hold a meeting with MONUSCO troop-contributing countries, in which Special Representative and head of MONUSCO Bintou Keita is expected to participate. It will also convene for a briefing, followed by consultations, on MONUSCO. Keita and a civil society representative are the anticipated briefers.
Regarding Sudan, the chair of the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Harold Adlai Agyeman (Ghana), is expected to provide the quarterly briefing to the Council on the committee’s work. Today (1 December), the Security Council adopted resolution 2715, which terminated the mandate of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) as of 3 December. (For more information, see our 1 December What’s in Blue story.)
A briefing, followed by consultations, is planned on the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) and the implementation of the UN’s regional strategy to combat the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Special Representative and head of UNOCA Abdou Abarry is the expected briefer.
The Council will convene for a briefing, followed by consultations, on the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and on the 2206 South Sudan Sanctions Committee. Special Representative and head of UNMISS Nicholas Haysom will brief on the mission’s activities. Ambassador Michel Xavier Biang (Gabon), the chair of the 2206 South Sudan Sanctions Committee, is expected to brief on the committee’s work.
A briefing is anticipated on the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). Consultations are scheduled to follow. Special Representative and head of UNSMIL Abdoulaye Bathily is the expected briefer.
Today (1 December), the Security Council adopted resolution 2713, renewing for one year the sanctions regime on Al-Shabaab, and resolution 2714, fully lifting the arms embargo on the Somali government. (For more information, see our 1 December What’s in Blue story.)
During December, Council members are also expected to continue negotiating a draft framework resolution on the financing of AU peace support operations (AUPSOs).
The Council plans to address a number of Middle Eastern issues this month:
Several meetings on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question” are expected to take place in December. Besides the regular monthly meeting on the file, in which Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland may brief, Council members might convene additional meetings depending on developments. In this regard, Council members are expected to hold closed consultations on the file on Monday (4 December). The United Arab Emirates (UAE) requested the meeting in light of the resumption of hostilities in the Gaza Strip.
The Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). Ahead of the mandate renewal, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix will brief Council members on UNDOF in closed consultations. A meeting of Council members and UNDOF troop-contributing countries is also expected to take place, in which Director of the Middle East and West Asia Division in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations (DPPA-DPO) Darko Mocibob will participate.
This month, Special Adviser and head of the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD) Christian Ritscher is scheduled to provide the biannual briefing on UNITAD’s work.
The Council will hold its monthly meetings on political and humanitarian issues in Syria and on the use of chemical weapons in the country. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu is expected to brief on the chemical weapons file, while Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen and an OCHA representative are expected to brief in a joint meeting on political and humanitarian issues, respectively.
Council members will hold their monthly meeting on Yemen in closed consultations. Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg, an OCHA official, and Head of the UN Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA) Major General Michael Beary are the scheduled briefers.
During December, the Council is also planning to hold a briefing on non-proliferation (Iran). The expected briefers are Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo; Ambassador Vanessa Frazier (Malta), the Council’s facilitator for the implementation of resolution 2231 of 20 July 2015, which endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear programme; and a representative of the EU in its capacity as coordinator of the Joint Commission, which comprises the current parties to the JCPOA (China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK, and Iran).
The only Asian issue currently planned in December is Afghanistan. The Council will hold its quarterly meeting on the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Special Representative and head of UNAMA Roza Otunbayeva, an OCHA official, and a civil society representative are expected to brief. Ambassador José de la Gasca (Ecuador), the chair of the 1988 Afghanistan Sanctions Committee, is also expected to brief on the committee’s work. The Council is expected to renew the mandate of the Monitoring Team assisting the 1988 Afghanistan Sanctions Committee this month. Under resolution 2615 of 22 December 2021, which established a humanitarian exception to the 1988 sanctions regime, the Council is also scheduled to receive a briefing on the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.
Regarding the Americas, there will be a briefing by the chair of the 2653 Haiti Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Michel Xavier Biang (Gabon).
On European issues, the Council may hold one or more meetings on the situation in Ukraine depending on developments.
Other issues, such as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), could be raised in December depending on developments.
