Programme of Work for September 2024
Slovenia is the president of the Security Council in September. Council members adopted the provisional programme of work for the month earlier today (3 September).
Slovenia has chosen to organise one signature event, a high-level open debate on “Leadership for Peace” under the “Maintenance of international peace and security” agenda item. Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob is expected to chair the meeting, which will be held during the UN General Assembly’s high-level segment. UN Secretary-General António Guterres and President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Mirjana Spoljaric Egger are expected to brief. The open debate is designed to generate ideas for addressing some of the most intractable peace and security challenges facing the Council, such as conflicts in Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine, among others. Slovenia is expected to propose a presidential statement in connection with the meeting.
This month, the Security Council will hold its annual meeting on peacekeeping reform pursuant to resolution 2378 of 20 September 2017. Slovenia has chosen to organise the meeting as an open debate, titled “Strengthening UN Peacekeeping: Reflections for the Future”. The expected briefers are Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations; Comfort Ero, President and CEO of the International Crisis Group (ICG); and Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, President and CEO of the International Peace Institute (IPI).
Council members will hold a high-level Informal Interactive Dialogue (IID) with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States (LAS), Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and members of the Arab Summit Troika—a group of three rotating countries that monitor the implementation of resolutions and commitments adopted by the LAS, which consists of the outgoing, current, and incoming Arab Summit chairs (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Iraq). Slovenia’s Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Tanja Fajon, will chair the meeting, which is being convened in accordance with a 29 January 2021 Security Council presidential statement (S/PRST/2021/2) that encouraged the holding of an informal meeting between Council members and LAS representatives on the margins of the General Assembly’s high-level segment.
The Council’s quarterly briefing and consultations on the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) will be chaired by Fajon. Special Representative and Head of UNAMA Roza Otunbayeva, UN Women Executive Director Sima Sami Bahous, and a civil society representative are the anticipated briefers. At today’s (3 September) press briefing on September’s programme of work, Ambassador Samuel Žbogar (Slovenia) encouraged members to focus in their statements on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan, particularly on their access to education.
Fajon will also chair the monthly briefing and consultations on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”, at which Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland is expected to brief. In September, the Council expects to receive a briefing from Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator (SHRC) for Gaza Sigrid Kaag in line with resolution 2720 of 22 December 2023. At today’s press briefing, Žbogar noted that this would be Kaag’s last briefing mandated by resolution 2720, adding that Council members will discuss the way forward regarding this position. He also encouraged Council members to have forward-looking statements at these two meetings, including by reflecting on the reconstruction of Gaza and ways to restart a political process to advance the two-state solution.
Additional meetings on this file may be convened depending on developments in Israel and Gaza. In this regard, a briefing on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question” has been scheduled for 4 September following two separate meeting requests: one made by Israel (supported by France, the UK, and the US) after the recovery on 31 August of bodies of six hostages killed in Gaza and another made by Algeria to discuss developments in Gaza and the West Bank. According to Žbogar, there would be one meeting that will provide a “comprehensive briefing” on the hostages as well as on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.
Several other Middle Eastern issues are on the plan of work this month.
There will be meetings on the political, humanitarian, and chemical weapons tracks in Syria. Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Adedeji Ebo will brief on the chemical weapons file. Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen and OCHA Head in Geneva and Director of the Coordination Division Ramesh Rajasingham are the scheduled briefers in a joint meeting on political and humanitarian issues.
The Council will also hold its monthly briefing and consultations on Yemen. Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya, and a civil society representative are expected to brief in the open chamber. Head of the UN Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA) Major General Michael Beary is scheduled to brief in the closed consultations.
Several African issues will be discussed in September.
The Security Council plans to vote on a draft resolution extending the Sudan sanctions regime (targeted sanctions and the arms embargo), which expires on 12 September. The chair of the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee, Joonkook Hwang (Republic of Korea), is also expected to provide the quarterly briefing on the committee’s work. Council members will continue following political and humanitarian developments in Sudan and may choose to convene additional meetings on the file.
There will be a briefing and consultations on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the DRC and Head of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) Bintou Keita is expected to brief. The chair of the 1533 DRC Sanctions Committee, Michael Imran Kanu (Sierra Leone), is expected brief on the committee’s work. A civil society representative may also brief
A vote was initially scheduled to take place in September on the renewal of the authorisation granted by resolution 2240 of 9 October 2015, allowing member states, acting in their national capacity or through regional organisations, to inspect and seize vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya that they have reasonable grounds to suspect are being used for migrant smuggling or human trafficking from Libya. However, France and Malta, the co-penholders on the re-authorisation under consideration this year, apparently conveyed to Council members that the EU will not seek a further renewal of the authorisation.
Regarding the Americas, the Security Council may renew the authorisation of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in Haiti, which expires on 2 October. Members are also expected hold a meeting on Venezuela under “any other business” on 5 September. Ecuador requested the meeting to discuss the situation in the country, where the results of the 28 July presidential election, in which Nicolás Maduro was announced the winner, have been strongly disputed by several national and international actors.
As in previous months, the Council may hold one or more meetings on Ukraine in September. Other issues could be raised during the month depending on developments.
