Week 92, 10 – 14 October 2022

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.

Last week, Gabon assumed the Presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of October and hosted an Open Debate on peace and security in Africa as its first signature event. The Security Council was briefed on key political developments in Iraq and a meeting of the UNSC was held after the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) launched a ballistic missile over Japanese territory on 4 October 2022.

• On 3 October 2022, Gabon commenced its month-long Presidency of the UN Security Council. The Permanent Representative of Gabon to the UN, Ambassador Michel Xavier Biang, outlined the Council’s programme of work for October which features four major debates, three of which will focus on Africa. Meetings will be held on Iraq, Mali, Haiti, Yemen, Sudan and South Sudan, among others, and the Council will take up the renewal of several mandates, the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). Later in the month the Annual Open Debate on the theme of Women, Peace and Security, will focus on strengthening women’s resilience in regions plagued by armed groups.

Ambassador Michel Xavier Biang

• On 4 October 2022, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), presented the UN Secretary-General’s latest report on key political developments in the country since May 2022. The Special Representative described an atmosphere of “pervasive disillusionment” and said that protests and counter-protests in August 2022 have brought the country to the “brink of total chaos”. Ireland expressed regret that the situation in Iraq has deteriorated considerably since the Council’s last meeting in May and noted that government-formation has failed to take place a year after well-managed and peaceful elections in the country, “which comes at a great cost for the Iraqi people, for whom critical reforms are long overdue”.
• On 5 October 2022, Mohamed Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, reported to the Council that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) launched a ballistic missile over Japanese territory on 4 October 2022, in clear violation of Security Council resolutions. Ireland called on the DPRK to meet its obligations by abandoning ballistic missile and nuclear programmes, adhering to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty and complying with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.

Mohamed Khaled Khiari

• On 6 October 2022, the first signature event of Gabon’s presidency took place as the Council hosted an Open Debate on peace and security in Africa: Strengthening the fight against the financing of armed groups and terrorists through the illicit trafficking of natural resources. Briefing the Council, Ms. Ghada Fathi Waly, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, reported that terrorism and organised crime pose a great threat to Africa, particularly in the Sahel, which is acutely affected by the activities of active and deadly terrorist groups. Bankole Adeoye, African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, underlined that transnational organised crime networks are instrumental in the illicit trafficking in weapons and ammunition that sustains the operations of terrorists and violent extremist groups and emphasized the need for a multifaceted approach, including the prevention of terrorist financing, to eliminate terrorism on the continent and globally. Also briefing the Council was Paul-Simon Handy, Regional Director for East Africa and Representative to the African Union of the Institute for Security Studies, who emphasised that the failure to clamp down on the illicit activities of armed groups and terrorists represents “a crisis of inaction, not a lack of instruments or tools”. Ireland called on all States to continue efforts to end the illegal activities of armed groups’ and terrorist organizations’ and hold to account those complicit in illegal trade and encouraged the effective implementation of all relevant Council resolutions and key United Nations conventions.

Ghada Fathi Waly

The Week Ahead (10 – 14 October 2022)

This week the Informal Expert Group on Women, Peace and Security will meet to discuss Iraq. The Council will hold two debates, one on co-operation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organisations, focusing on the African Union, and one on Climate and Security in Africa. Meetings will also be held on Colombia and Yemen.

Monday – 10 October 2022

• The Informal Expert Group on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), co-chaired by Ireland and Mexico, will meet to discuss Iraq. Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Claudio Cordone, is expected to brief.

Tuesday – 11 October 2022

• The Security Council will hold a debate on cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organisations, focusing on the AU. The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, and African Union Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, have been confirmed as briefers.

Wednesday – 12 October 2022

• The Council will hold an Open Debate on Climate and Security in Africa.
• The Council will hold its regular meeting on Colombia, the first to take place under the new Colombian administration.

Thursday – 13 October 2022

• The Council will hold a briefing and consultations on Yemen, after the Yemen truce expired on 2 October. UN Special Envoy, Hans Grundberg, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, and Major General (ret.) Michael Beary, Head of the UN Mission to support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) are expected to brief.
• The 7th joint seminar of the UNSC and the African Union Peace and Security Council is tentatively scheduled to take place on 13 October.

Friday – 14 October 2022

• The 16th Annual Joint Consultative Meeting of the members of United Nations Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council is tentatively scheduled to take place on 14 October.