Programme of Work for September 2019
Russia is the president of the Security Council this month.
Its presidency will feature a ministerial-level debate late in the month on the cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organisations, with a focus on the role of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov will preside. Secretary-General António Guterres is scheduled to brief. Other briefers are expected to include the Secretaries-General of the CSTO, SCO and CIS.
Russia will convene a briefing, also late in the month, on “Peace and Security in Africa: partnership to maintain regional peace and security”. Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, Chef de Cabinet to the Secretary-General, and an AU representative are expected to brief.
A debate on the reform of UN peacekeeping operations will feature a briefing by Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
This will be a busy month on Afghanistan in the Council. The Council is scheduled to renew the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), set to expire on 17 September. It will also hold its quarterly debate on Afghanistan, during which it will consider the Secretary-General’s report on UNAMA and latest developments. Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, is expected to brief. Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani (Indonesia), chair of the 1988 Afghanistan Sanctions Committee, and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Executive Director Yuri Fedotov (via video-teleconference) are also anticipated briefers.
The mandate of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) is expected to be renewed prior to its 15 September expiration. Earlier in the month, the Special Representative and head of UNSMIL, Ghassan Salamé, and the chair of the 1970 Libya Sanctions Committee, Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany Ambassador Jürgen Schulz, are scheduled to brief the Council. Consultations will follow the briefing.
Members are considering a draft presidential statement on a recent strategic review of the UN Office in Central Africa (UNOCA), which the Council may adopt in the coming days.
The Council is expected to hold a briefing, followed by consultations, on the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS). Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Bintou Keita will brief.
A briefing, followed by consultations, is also anticipated this month on the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Special Representative and head of UNMISS David Shearer is the anticipated briefer.
Two meetings are scheduled on Syria. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu will brief members in consultations on the use of chemical weapons in the country. A joint briefing, followed by consultations, will also be convened on political and humanitarian issues in Syria. Special Envoy Geir Pedersen may brief on the political track, while Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Ursula Mueller is scheduled to brief on the humanitarian track.
At press time, Council members continued to discuss a draft resolution aimed at alleviating the humanitarian situation in north-western Syria.
A review of the mandate of the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL is also anticipated in September.
The Council will hold its monthly briefing on Yemen. Special Envoy Martin Griffiths (via video-teleconference) may brief, and Assistant Secretary-General Mueller is scheduled to participate.
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 is expected to renew the mandate of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, which expires on 25 September.
Non-proliferation and Ukraine are in the footnotes of the programme of work. These and other issues could be addressed by the Council over the course of the month.
