Week 40, 4-8 October 2021

Recent developments at the UNSC

• Ireland held a high-level signature event, the last of its Presidency, to mark the 25^th anniversary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty on 27 September 2021. Minister of State Thomas Byrne chaired the meeting and delivered Ireland’s National Statement.
• The Security Council agreed a Press Statement on Lebanon on 27 September 2021. It welcomed the formation of a new government led by Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
• Ireland chaired a meeting of the Security Council on political developments in Syria with Special Envoy Geir Pedersen on 28 September 2021. Ireland invited Syrian female peacebuilder Rouba Mhaissen to brief the Council on the experiences of Syrian women.
• The Security Council discussed women, peace and security (WPS) and Somalia on 28 September 2021. Ireland and Mexico spoke to the press in advance of the meeting in their capacity as co-chairs of the Informal Expert Group (IEG) on WPS.
• The Security Council adopted resolution 2598 on migrant smuggling and human trafficking off the coast of Libya on 29 September 2021. Ireland co-sponsored the resolution, which was facilitated by co-penholders, France and Estonia.
• The Security Council held a meeting on the Palestinian question on 29 September 2021. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, briefed the Council on illegal settlement activity by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. As President, Ireland invited two civil society women peacebuilders to brief the Council: a representative from a Palestinian NGO and an Israeli activist.
• As co-chairs of the IEG on WPS, Ireland and Mexico hosted a meeting on Haiti on 29 September 2021.
• The Security Council adopted resolution 2599 on Libya on 30 September 2021, a technical rollover of the UNSMIL mandate.
• Ireland officially ended its month long Presidency of the Security Council on 30 September 2021 and passed on the mantle to Kenya for the month of October.

Monday –  4^th October  

• Open briefing, followed by closed consultations, on Haiti. Special Representative and head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) Helen La Lime will brief on recent developments and the Secretary-General’s latest report on BINUH. A civil society representative may also brief.
• Briefing and consultations on the Syria chemical weapons track. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu is the anticipated briefer.

Tuesday – 5^th October  

• Open briefing, followed by closed consultations, on the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and on Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) sanctions. Special Representative and head of MONUSCO Bintou Keita is expected to brief on the Secretary-General’s latest report on the DRC. Ambassador Abdou Abarry (Niger) will brief in his capacity as chair of the 1533 DRC Sanctions Committee. A civil society representative may also brief.
• Briefing in closed consultations on the activities of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights. Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix is the anticipated briefer.

Wednesday – 6^th October  

• The Security Council will receive a briefing on the Secretary-General’s seventh biennial report on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW). The expected briefers are UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu, Executive Secretary of the Regional Centre on Small Arms in the Great Lakes Region, the Horn of Africa and Bordering States (RECSA), Lieutenant General Badreldin Elamin Abdelgadir, and Senior Researcher at the Small Arms Survey David Lochhead.

Thursday – 7^th October  

• No official meetings scheduled.

Friday – 8^th October  

• Arria-formula meeting on Belarus, at the initiative of Estonia.