Security Council: Meetings Coverage

Ahead of Afghanistan’s defining presidential and provincial elections in August, Kai Eide, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, said today that, if managed well, the situation in that country ‑‑ the most complex it had been for years ‑‑ could become a turning point in efforts to end the conflict there.

With demand for United Nations peacekeeping continuing to grow, conflict situations becoming more complex and resources more scarce, the success of current and future operations depended on strengthening relationships between the Organization and its Member States, especially those providing troops and police, senior peacekeeping officials told the Security Council today.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS) until 31 December and requested the Secretary-General to establish a United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) to succeed it for an initial period of 12 months after that.

The sorrow and brutality of war continued to be felt by untold millions of civilians trapped by conflict or forced into flight, John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council today.

Robert Serry, Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General, told the Security Council today that diplomatic efforts to reinvigorate the Middle East peace process had continued, and recent meetings -- including of the Quartet on Friday -- were part of a concentrated push to create the conditions for re-launching efforts for a two-State solution.

With presidential elections in Guinea-Bissau less than a week away, the top United Nations envoy there, concerned that the people of the poverty-stricken West African nation were gripped by paranoia and the Government was paralysed following a wave of recent political assassinations, today appealed to the Security Council and the international community to provide much-needed support for the ballot, as well as for much-needed institutional and governance reforms.

The Security Council this morning renewed the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which has supervised the ceasefire between Israel and Syria since 1974, for the six months ending 30 December 2009.

If the Central African Republic was to build on the momentum created by the national political dialogue held in late 2008 and to overcome threats posed by sporadic rebel violence in its northern villages, the United Nations top political official today told the Security Council that the country must take ownership of and fully implement its recently adopted peacebuilding framework, which covered key priorities such as security, disarmament, good governance and development.

The Security Council today commended the important efforts made by the Government of Iraq to strengthen democracy and the rule of law, to improve security and public order and combat terrorism and sectarian violence across the country, following a debate among its members and a briefing by the outgoing head of the United Nations Mission in Iraq.

With its structure reconfigured in the wake of Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia early last year, the United Nations Mission “was different […] but no less relevant or vital,” as it stepped up its diplomatic role in the region, its chief told the Security Council this afternoon.