What's In Blue

Posted Mon 3 Jun 2019

Programme of Work for June 2019

Kuwait is president of the Security Council in June.

As a signature event of its presidency, Kuwait plans to hold an open debate on the working methods of the Security Council. Karin Landgren, the Executive Director of Security Council Report, and James Cockayne, Director of the UN University Centre for Policy Research, are the expected briefers. Kuwait, which chairs the Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions (IWG), also held an open debate on working methods during its February 2018 Council presidency. There is likely to be a chair’s summary issued after the meeting.

Kuwait plans to initiate three other discretionary events this month: briefings on missing persons in conflict; conflict prevention and mediation; and cooperation between the UN and the League of Arab States (LAS). All three meetings will be chaired by Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

OCHA Operations Director Reena Ghelani and ICRC President Peter Maurer are the anticipated briefers during the Missing Persons in Conflict meeting. Negotiations are underway on a resolution on this issue that Kuwait hopes will be adopted during the session.

Secretary-General António Guterres; Chair of the Elders Mary Robinson; and Deputy Chair of the Elders Ban Ki-moon are expected to brief in the conflict prevention and mediation meeting.

Guterres and LAS Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit are the expected briefers during the session on the relationship between the UN and the LAS.

This month, the Council will hold its annual briefing with the heads of military components of UN peace operations. The anticipated briefers are Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix; Lieutenant General Leonard Muriuki Ngondi, the Force Commander of AU/UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID); and Major General Cheryl Pearce, the Force Commander of UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). The meeting is expected to focus on cooperation with host states.

African issues constitute a large share of the Council’s work this month. Early in the month, François Louncény Fall, Special Representative and head of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), is expected to brief the Council on the Secretary-General’s semi-annual report on UNOCA and the implementation of the UN regional strategy to combat the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Consultations will follow.

The Council is expected to renew the authorisation for member states, acting nationally or through regional organisations, to inspect vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya, bound to or from the country, that they have reasonable grounds to believe are violating the arms embargo. The current authorisation expires on 11 June.

The Council is due to renew the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) before its 30 June expiry. Earlier in the month, the Council plans to receive a briefing from Lacroix, followed by consultations on MINUSMA.

The Council is also due to renew the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) sanctions regime and the mandate of the Group of Experts assisting the 1533 DRC Sanctions Committee.

June is a busy month for issues related to Sudan and South Sudan. There will be a briefing, followed by consultations, on the AU/UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), which will be delivered by Lacroix. The Council will renew the mandate of UNAMID ahead of its expiry on 30 June.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda is scheduled to deliver the semi-annual briefing related to the court’s work on Darfur.

The quarterly briefing on the work of 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee will also take place in June. It may be provided by the Committee’s chair, Ambassador Joanna Wronecka (Poland).

Concerning South Sudan, there will be a briefing, followed by consultations, on the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Special Representative and head of UNMISS David Shearer is the anticipated briefer.

Mankeur Ndiaye, the Special Representative and head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), will brief the Council on the Secretary-General’s MINUSCA report. Consultations are scheduled after the briefing.

A briefing on Burundi is planned this month, featuring the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy, Michel Kafando. Consultations are scheduled to follow.

Consultations on the work of the 751 Somalia Sanctions Committee will be held in June. It may feature a briefing by the Committee’s chair, Ambassador Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve (Belgium).

Several issues related to the Middle East will be discussed in June. The Council will receive the monthly briefings on the humanitarian situation, the political process, and the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock will brief via video-teleconference on the humanitarian situation; consultations will follow. It is anticipated that Special Envoy Geir O. Pedersen will deliver a briefing late in the month on political developments, with consultations to ensue.  Finally, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu is likely to brief members in consultations on the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Lacroix is expected to brief Council members in consultations on the Secretary-General’s latest 90-day report on the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights, due in June, and the most recent developments. Later in the month, the Council is expected to extend for six months the UNDOF mandate, which expires on 30 June.

Also this month, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths will brief the Council on the implementation of resolution 2451, which endorsed the 13 December 2018 Stockholm Agreement, and resolution 2452, which established the UN Mission to support the Hodeidah Agreement for an initial period of six months.

The monthly meeting on the Middle East (Israel/Palestine) will feature a briefing by Special Coordinator Nickolay Mladenov. Consultations are scheduled to follow.

The Council expects to receive the Secretary-General’s report on the implementation of resolution 2231, which endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear programme. The Council also anticipates receiving reports from the Joint Commission, established by the parties to the JCPOA to oversee its implementation, and from the Council’s 2231 facilitator, Ambassador Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve (Belgium). Briefings are expected from Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, a representative of Belgium, and a representative of the EU in its capacity as coordinator of the Joint Commission.

Afghanistan is the one Asian issue on the programme this month. The Council will hold its quarterly meeting on the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in a debate format. Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, and Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani (Indonesia), chair of the 1988 Afghanistan Sanctions Committee, are expected to brief.

In June, the Council anticipates holding its second of three briefings on the situation in Kosovo scheduled for this year. The Special Representative and head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Zahir Tanin, will brief on recent developments and the latest report by the Secretary-General.

Arria-formula meetings are planned during the month on the following: transnational organised crime and drug trafficking in the Caribbean region; refugees and displaced persons; and maritime security.

Kuwait also expects to hold an informal wrap-up session of the Council’s work in June at the end of the month.

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

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