Week 69, 2 – 6 May 2022

Ireland and the UN Security Council – This Week

This bulletin will provide a brief analysis of last week’s meetings at the UN Security Council (UNSC), and an overview of the upcoming meetings this week.

In the final week of the United Kingdom’s Presidency of the UNSC, the Council received briefings on recent clashes in Jerusalem, and the situations in Syria, Sudan, Libya, and the Great Lakes region. Elsewhere in the UN, the General Assembly adopted, without a vote, a landmark resolution aimed at holding the five permanent Council members accountable for their use of veto. An Arria-formula meeting on ensuring accountability for atrocities committed in Ukraine was also held.

• Following recent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces at Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount during religious holidays, Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the Security Council that the status quo on Jerusalem’s holy sites must be upheld at all costs on 25 April 2022. Ireland expressed concern about the civilian deaths and injuries in recent weeks across the West Bank.
• The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, Geir Pedersen, briefed the Council on 26 April 2022, stressing that the current strategic stalemate on the ground should not mislead anyone into thinking that the conflict needs less attention or fewer resources. Ireland, speaking on behalf of Norway as co-penholders of the Syrian humanitarian file, expressed strong support of the use of all modalities to supply aid to the significant number of Syrians in need.
• The General Assembly adopted, without a vote, a landmark resolution on 26 April 2022, creating a standing mandate for a General Assembly debate to be called when a veto is cast in the Security Council, aimed at holding the five permanent members accountable for their use of veto. Ireland welcomed the adoption and joined 82 other states in co-sponsoring the resolution. Ireland underlined that use of the veto has left the international community with a Security Council unable to act in the face of the world’s most pressing challenges, including climate change and the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine.

 

Pictured above are some of the 83 co-sponsors of the resolution who gathered to mark its success.

• The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region, Xia Huang, briefed the Council on 27 April 2022, underlining that the security crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo threatens to frustrate positive developments in the wider Great Lakes region. Ireland emphasised that the challenges facing the region cannot be solved solely by military means and called for a coherent approach to addressing the root causes of conflict, with women’s meaningful participation.
• The SRSG for Sudan and  Head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes, briefed the Council, on 27 April 2022, following the recent alarming clashes in West Darfur, which have resulted in civilian deaths.  
• Ireland co-hosted a seminar with Norway and Switzerland, on 27 April 2022, on due process and UN sanctions, emphasising how targeted sanctions respect international due process standards.

• On 27 April, an Arria-formula meeting was held by the Permanent Missions of France and Albania in cooperation with Ukraine, on ensuring accountability for atrocities committed in Ukraine. Ireland committed to working tirelessly to ensure that the men and women of Ukraine obtain justice, and that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes will be held to account.
• Karim Khan, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, pledged his commitment to delivering justice against crimes committed in Libya during his briefing to the Security Council on 28 April 2022. Ireland emphasised that resources remain a matter of concern for the Court and called for adequate funding, recalling that Ireland committed additional voluntary funding to the Court two weeks ago.
• The Security Council adopted a resolution to renew the mandate of The United Nations Support Mission in Libya for three months, on 29 April 2022.
• Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, briefed the Council on 29 April 2022, underlining that Syria’s continued failure to remedy outstanding issues prevents the international community from confirming the elimination of its chemical-weapons programme. Ireland called on Damascus to stop its policy of equivocation and delay, and to engage in meaningful cooperation with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
• On 29 April 2022, the United Kingdom’s Presidency of the UNSC concluded. For the month of April, the Council strongly focused its activities on the UK’s priorities which included meetings on the threat to global peace and security posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, ensuring accountability for victims of conflict-related sexual violence, and calling for the delivery of vaccines to people in conflict zones.

The Week Ahead (2 – 6 May 2022)

This week, the United States of America assumes the Presidency of the UN Security Council. A meeting will be held on Mali, and the Security Council will remain focused on events in Ukraine.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Special Representative to the UN.

Monday – 2 May 2022

• No official meetings.

Tuesday – 3 May 2022

• The Council will hold an A.O.B discussion on Mali, at the request of Russia. 
• The President of the Security Council for the month of May (United States of America) will provide a briefing for Member States of the United Nations, that are non-members of the Council, on its work for the month.

Wednesday – 4 May 2022

• No official meetings.

Thursday – 5 May 2022

• There will be a briefing on the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine, which is likely to focus on humanitarian issues and attacks against infrastructure. Briefers are expected to include UN Secretary-General (SG), Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Director of Operations, Ghada Muawi. The meeting will be an opportunity for the SG to update the Council on his visits to Moscow and Kyiv.

Friday – 5 May 2022

• Russia will hold an Arria-formula meeting entitled, “Systematic and mass grave violations of international humanitarian law as well as other war crimes committed by the Ukrainian military personnel and militia and discovered in the course of ongoing Special Military Operation of the Russian Armed Forces”.