Web Desk; On October 1, Russia assumed the Presidency of the UN Security Council, the body entrusted with primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security under the UN Charter.
The Russian delegation has scheduled two key events for the upcoming month.
October 23: Open Ministerial Debate on the Situation in the Middle East;
October 24 (Anniversary of the Entry into Force of the UN Charter): Open Ministerial Debate on the 80th Anniversary of the United Nations.
Another key event for the UNSC in October is the visit of its member states to Addis Ababa to participate in a consultative event with the Peace and Security Council of the African Union on October 17.
Overall, the Council’s agenda during Russia’s Presidency promises to be quite extensive. As part of the mandate and reporting cycle, there will be an open debate on the theme of “Women, Peace, and Security” and UN Security Council meetings to discuss the situations in Colombia, Somalia, Yemen, Western Sahara, the Great Lakes region, Haiti, Libya, Kosovo, the Central African Republic, Syria, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The meetings will also address the activities of the UN Disengagement Observer Force, cooperation between the UN and the African Union, and include a briefing by the President of the International Court of Justice.
Plans are in place to extend the mandates of the following missions, all of which expire in October: the UN Support Mission in Libya, Operation Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the UN Monitoring Mission in Colombia, and the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara.
The Council is also expected to decide on the future of sanctions against Haiti.
As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the Russian Federation will make every effort to ensure the body’s work is smooth, coordinated, and efficient, and to find common ground on the issues on the agenda. In the coming month, we will continue to emphasize the growing importance of multilateral diplomacy in today’s increasingly multipolar world.
