Developments of COVID-19, Libya, Israeli-Palestinian conflict on UN Security Council Agenda in August

CAIRO – 10 August 2020:  The United Nations Security Council announced discussing number of critical issues as part of August agenda, including the developments of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Syria, Yemen, Guinea-Bissau and Somalia, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

According to the UN Security Council website August meetings will focus on several key threats to its sustaining peace agenda, including transnational organized crime and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia Ambassador to the United Nations Dian Triansyah Djani said during a video press briefing

He added that the 15-member organ will continue to hold largely virtual sessions, including a 12 August debate on “sustaining peace in the post-pandemic world”.  Noting that COVID-19 continues to impact people around the world, he said the meeting will offer participants a chance to explore the impact of the coronavirus on the spectrum of situations on the Council’s agenda.  Among the briefers expected are Secretary-General António Guterres — whose March appeal for a global ceasefire amid the pandemic was endorsed by the Council in resolution 2532 (2020) — as well as former Secretary-General Ban Ki‑moon and representatives of civil society and academia.

Throughout August, he continued, the Council will also hold meetings on the situations in Syria, Yemen, Guinea-Bissau and Somalia, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  It will hear from several of its subsidiary bodies, including the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006) on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

In addition, he noted that meetings are scheduled to renew several of the Council’s mandated peace operations — such as the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) — and the sanctions regime imposed on individuals and entities in Mali.  Delegates are also in the process of drafting a resolution on the increasingly prominent role of women peacekeepers and an Arria formula meeting is scheduled on the topic of protecting critical cyberinfrastructure.

Mr. Djani responded to various questions from correspondents, including one about the status of a United States draft resolution which would have the Council extend its arms embargo on Iran indefinitely and a proposed revision to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mandate extension.  Negotiations on those items are under way and he will have more information about them soon.  He also cited no new developments following the Council’s outreach to the Houthis in Yemen, in which members requested access to the decaying Safer oil tanker moored in the Red Sea.

Asked whether he believes the Council has demonstrated hypocrisy in recognizing Libya’s Government of National Accord as the sole legitimate Government — even as some of its members continue to send weapons and mercenaries to other warring parties — he responded that the organ continues to follow the issue closely.