President of SecCo introduces work programme for April, including Mideast briefing – Press conference (excerpts)

PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

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Outlining the Council’s programme of work for the month, he said the first of three open debates would focus on Haiti.  Scheduled for 6 April, it was intended to augment momentum generated by recent visits to that country by the Secretary-General and the Council ahead of a donor’s conference scheduled for later this month, in Washington, D.C. Special Representative for Haiti Hédi Annabi would address the Council during the debate on Monday, and institutions such as the Organization of American States, the Caribbean Community and the World Bank, among others, had been invited.

The second open debate would consider the mediation and settlement of disputes, he said.  It was scheduled for 14 April around a report by the Secretary-General that had been requested by Burkina Faso and would be issued next week.  On 29 April, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy would present her annual report during the third open debate.   Mexico’s Minister of Foreign Relations Patricia Espinosa would preside at that meeting.

Four briefings were slated to consider the Middle East, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and Guinea-Bissau.  The Council would also hold consultations on Iraq and Kuwait, as well as on the periodic report on the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) and the report of the panel of experts on that country’s sanctions regime.  With the mandates for the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) set to expire on 30 April, the Council would also consider the extension of those mandates.

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Asked about Gaza and Israel’s closure of border crossings there, he said that topic would most likely be part of the open briefing on the Middle East as well as closed consultations on the region.  Responding to a question about recent comments by Israel’s new Foreign Minister on the Annapolis peace process, he stressed that it was the Council’s responsibility to continue taking actions based on its previous resolutions, which outlined a vision for two States living side by side in peace. 

Replying to a question about the lack of humanitarian issues on the Council’s agenda, he highlighted the Council’s debate on international humanitarian law, which had been organized by France and held in January.  Further, several delegations had insisted that the humanitarian aspect was essential in many cases before the Council.  The debate on 29 April on children and armed conflict would be important in that regard.

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For information media • not an official record