Africa to dominate Security Council’s work this month, says President

The United Nations Security Council will have a “fairly heavy programme” this month, dominated by African subjects and including a visit to the continent, its President for June said today.

Briefing reporters at UN Headquarters on the 15-member body’s schedule, Belgian Ambassador Johan C. Verbeke said the focus on African-related subjects is due partly to the fact that Africa is an important topic within the Council, and also because its members will embark on a week-long, five-nation visit next week.

The mission, which will depart on 14 June, will take Council members to Accra, Ghana; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Khartoum, Sudan; Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) before returning to New York on 21 June.

In addition, on 25 June, the Council will focus on the relationship between natural resources and conflicts during an open debate initiated by Belgium.

“The purpose is that we look at the relationship [between] natural resources and conflict from a perspective which transcends the classical perspective [that] the Council has been looking at it until now,” Mr. Verbeke said.

“We see three ways of approaching the problem,” he added. The first was in terms of natural resources being the origin or the cause of conflict, while the second was to view natural resources and their revenues as fuel for prolonging conflicts. The third was to view the resources as empowering newly-recovered governments to move beyond the conflict period.

Regarding the protection of civilians in armed conflict – the focus of a meeting scheduled for 22 June ¬ Mr. Verbeke said he hoped that Council members will come with “some insights and a sense of urgency that all the diplomatic work ultimately bears on women, children and men for whose protection we are working here in New York.”

Kosovo, the situation in the Middle East, and the possible phasing out of the UN mission tasked with verifying Iraq’s compliance with its obligations to be rid of its weapons of mass destruction (UNMOVIC) are among the other topics that are expected to be considered during June.