Ireland and the UN Security Council - This Week: Week 4 | IIEA

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Ireland and the UN Security Council - This Week: Week 4

Week 4: 25 - 29 January 2021

Recent developments at the UNSC

  • UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, called for urgent scaling up of funds for climate change adaptation and resilience building programmes, at the Climate Adaptation Summit, hosted by the Netherlands, which is taking place online today and tomorrow.
  • In a briefing to the Security Council on 20 January, UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, painted a bleak picture of what lies ahead for Syrians in 2021. He informed the Security Council that “a slow tsunami” is now “crashing across Syria”, referring to recent data from the UN humanitarian office which shows that more than 8 in 10 people are living in poverty in Syria. The fifth round of the Syrian-led, Syrian-owned, UN-facilitated Constitutional Committee will convene in Geneva this week.
  • In a briefing to the Security Council on 21 January, Special Representative and Head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, highlighted how illegally armed groups were threatening to undermine the historic 2016 peace agreement and called on both sides to “spare no efforts” in working together and with the UN mission, noting the importance of continuing to lay the groundwork for “reconciliation across the country”.

Monday – 25th January

  • Briefing on the implementation of Resolution 2532, which demanded a cessation of hostilities in all situations on the Council’s agenda to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Briefings are expected from: Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, and Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support, Atul Khare.

Tuesday – 26th January

  • The quarterly open debate on “The Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question” will be held via video conference. Tor Wennesland, the new Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, is the anticipated briefer.

Wednesday – 27th January

  • Briefing on the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA). Special Representative and head of the UNRCCA, Natalia Gherman, is expected to brief.

Thursday – 28th January

  • The Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
  • Briefing by the Acting Special Representative and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Stephanie Williams, which will be followed by closed consultations. Ambassador T. S. Tirumurti of India, the chair of the 1970 Libya Sanctions Committee, is also expected to provide the chair’s report on the Committee’s work.

Friday – 29th January

  • Closed meeting of the 751 Somalia Sanctions Committee, chaired by Ireland. The Committee’s Panel of Experts is expected to brief.
  • Wrap up session.