security council

On 11 October 2019 in the Syrian Arab Republic, a girl stares out from behind a metal grilled window where families displaced from Ras al-Ain have arrived in Tal Tamer, having fled escalating violence.
© UNICEF/Delil Souleiman

Syria: Lack of consensus following face-to-face talks, underscores need for broader process

20 December 2019
Peace and Security

The second session of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, aiming to create a new post-war political road map for the country, failed to get off the ground due to lack of consensus over the agenda, the UN Special Envoy for the country told the Security Council on Friday. 

Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, briefs the members of the UN Security Council.
UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

Iran and US both undermining nuclear deal says UN political affairs chief

19 December 2019
Peace and Security

Both Iran and the United States have been putting strain on the groundbreaking 2015 deal to monitor Iran’s nuclear programme, which remains a “cornerstone of international peace and security”, said the UN’s political affairs chief on Thursday.

A 75-year-old Syrian woman living alone in a refugee camp where her husband passed away. Some of her children remain in Syria, while others are resettled in Europe.
© UNHCR/Mohammad Hawari

Life for civilians in Syria ‘worse than when the year began’

19 December 2019
Humanitarian Aid

The humanitarian situation facing civilians in many parts of Syria is “worse than when the year began”, the UN deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council on Thursday.

UNAMID/Albert González Farran
On the outskirts of El Fasher in North Darfur, women ride donkeys on the road to Khartoum, Sudan.

‘Deliver justice’ for atrocity crimes in Darfur, top court prosecutor tells Security Council

18 December 2019
Law and Crime Prevention

“Concrete steps” must be taken towards ending impunity for atrocity crimes in Darfur, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) told the Security Council on Wednesday, during her briefing on Sudan.

The UN Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace addressed the Security Council on Wednesday, asking for more funding for the occupied territories. About 76 per cent of funds requested for the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for 2020 target the Gaza enclave.
UNRWA

Only ‘concrete action’ will stop fraying of Israel-Palestine peace prospects

18 December 2019
Peace and Security

Obstacles to any lasting deal between Israel and Palestine continue to mount, the UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told Security Council members on Wednesday, and only “concrete action” towards a two-State solution will change that dynamic.

Ethiopian peacekeepers deployed to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) escort a group of women outside a UN-run site and create a safe perimeter within which they can search for firewood without being at risk of attack, 28 March 2017.
UNMISS/Nektarios Markogiannis

South Sudan: political will needed to form a unified government, on the road to peace

17 December 2019
Peace and Security

Extending the deadline for the establishment of a unity government in South Sudan has helped maintain a ceasefire but also disillusioned many  citizens, the Security Council heard on Tuesday. 

Tadamichi Yamamoto, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), briefs the Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Peace will be ‘paramount’ issue for incoming Afghan Government: UN mission chief

16 December 2019
Peace and Security

The search for peace will remain of “paramount importance” to Afghanistan as the country awaits the outcome of the recent presidential election, the top UN official in the country told the Security Council on Monday. 

A young girl drinks water in the Bakassi IDP camp, in Maiduguri, Nigeria.
© UNICEF/Fati Abubakar

West Africa ‘shaken by unprecedented violence’, UN envoy tells Security Council

16 December 2019
Peace and Security

The UN envoy for West Africa and the vast Sahel region, told the Security Council on Monday that in recent months, the region has been “shaken by unprecedented violence”.

Mohamed Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, briefs the Security Council meeting on Non-proliferation/Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

North Korea missile tests ‘deeply troubling’: senior UN official

11 December 2019
Peace and Security

Recent developments concerning North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes are “deeply troubling”, the UN’s Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific said on Wednesday, briefed the Security Council.

UN Special Representative Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert visits injured protesters in al-Kindi hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. (November 2019)
UNAMI/Sarmad Al-Safy

Protests and civil unrest show ‘renewed sense of patriotism’ in Iraq, UN envoy tells Security Council

3 December 2019
Peace and Security

After decades of sectarian strife and conflict, “a renewed sense of patriotism has taken hold”, the head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) told the Security Council on Tuesday.