29 June 2017 – The Security Council today adopted a series of resolutions by which it extended the mandates of United Nations missions in the Golan, the Darfur region of Sudan and Mali, and renewed measures against illicit oil exports in Libya.

In resolution 2361, which extends the mandate of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), the Council condemned the use of heavy weapons by both the Syrian armed forces and armed groups in the ongoing Syrian conflict in the area of separation between Israel and Syria, and underlined that there should be no military activity of the armed opposition groups in that area.

It also urged Member States to convey strongly to the Syrian armed opposition groups in UNDOF’s area of operations to halt all activities that endanger UN peacekeepers and to accord them the freedom to carry out their mandate safely and securely.

UNDOF was established by the Council in May 1974 to maintain the ceasefire between Israel and Syria, to supervise the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces, and to supervise the areas of separation and limitation.

Mandate of UNAMID extended until 30 June next year

Similarly, the Council adopted resolution 2363, in which it extended the mandate of the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) until 30 June 2018.

Among other things, the Council also decided that from 31 January next year, UNAMID’s troop and police ceiling shall be reduced to consist of up to 8,735 military personnel and 2,500 police personnel, including individual police officers and members of formed police units.

Mandate of UN mission in Mali extended until 30 June 2018

Also today, the Council extended the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, known by its French acronym MINUSMA, through June 2018.

In adopting resolution 2364, the Council also decided that MINUSMA shall continue to comprise up to 13,289 military personnel and 1,920 police personnel and that its strategic priority shall remain to support the implementation by the Government, the Plateforme and Coordination armed groups, as well as by other relevant Malian stakeholders, of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali.

Furthermore, the Council authorized French forces, within the limits of their capacities and areas of deployment, “to use all necessary means” until the end of MINUSMA’s mandate, “to intervene in support of elements of MINUSMA when under imminent and serious threat upon request of the Secretary-General.”

Measures renewed against illicit oil exports in Libya

The Council also today renewed the measures against illicit oil exports from Libya as well as the mandate of the expert panel assisting the sanctions committee through November this year.

In adopting resolution 2362, the Council condemned attempts to illicitly export petroleum, including crude oil and refined petroleum products, from Libya, including by parallel institutions which are not acting under the authority of the Government of National Accord.

The Council also raised concerns about activities which could damage the integrity and unity of Libyan State financial institutions and the National Oil Corporation, and stressed the need for the Government of National Accord “to exercise sole and effective oversight” over the National Oil Corporation, the Central Bank of Libya and the Libyan Investment Authority.

In the same resolution, the Council decided that the Panel of Experts on the issue shall provide an interim report on its work no later than 28 February 2018, and a final report, with findings and recommendations, by 15 September of next year.

29 June 2017 – Briefing the Security Council today, the United Nations political chief called on the participants of the plan of action on Iran’s nuclear programme as well as the wider international community to continue to support the full and effective implementation of the agreement.

“The Secretary-General believes that the comprehensive and sustained implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) will guarantee that Iran’s nuclear programme remains exclusively peaceful, while allowing for transparency, monitoring and verification,” said Jeffery Feltman, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs.

“It will also provide Iran with an opportunity for greater engagement with the international community and assist in increasing its trade and economic relations [as well as] bring forth to a satisfactory conclusion the consideration of the Iranian nuclear issue by the Council,” he added in his briefing on resolution 2231, in which the Council endorsed the plan of action.

Mr. Feltman told the 15-member body that the Secretary-General had not received any report, nor is he aware of any open source information regarding the supply, sale or transfer to Iran of nuclear-related items undertaken contrary to the provisions of the resolution.

He also updated the Council on proposals under consideration of the procurement channels established by the resolution.

In relation to implementation of ballistic missile-related provisions, Mr. Feltman noted that on 29 January this year, Iran launched a medium-range ballistic missile following which letters were submitted to the Secretary-General by Iran and Israel, as well as jointly by France, Germany, the UK and the US concerning the launch.

“As in the case of the ballistic missile launches by Iran in March 2016, there was no consensus in the Security Council on how this particular launch related to resolution 2231 (2015),” said Mr. Feltman. Quoting from the third report of the Secretary-General on the resolution, he added that the Secretary-General called on Iran to avoid such ballistic missile launches “that have the potential to increase tensions.”

The Secretary-General also appealed to all UN Member States to redouble their efforts to promote peace and stability in the region, noted Mr. Feltman.

Additionally, in relation to arms-related transfers, the Under-Secretary-General told the Security Council that the current report of the Secretary-General included additional information on the seizure of an arms shipment by the French Navy in the northern Indian Ocean in March 2016.

“After examination of the weapons and analysis of information provided, the [UN] Secretariat is confident that the weapons seized are of Iranian origin and were shipped from Iran,” he said.

In January 2017, France had invited the UN Secretariat to examine the seized arms.

Concluding his briefing, Mr. Feltman also highlighted that as the JCPOA implementation enters its third year, the Secretary-General has highlighted the particular responsibilities of the agreement’s participants towards its full and effective implementation.

“The Secretary-General is hopeful that all participants will continue to make progress in the implementation of the agreement, and in the process secure its durability,” he said.

Adopted unanimously in July 2015, resolution 2231 endorsed the JCPOA that was signed earlier that month by the five permanent members of the Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States), plus Germany, the European Union (EU) and Iran.

The agreement set out a rigorous monitoring mechanism and timetable for implementation, while paving the way for the lifting of UN sanctions against Iran.

Also briefing the Council were Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi of Italy, in his capacity as the Security Council Facilitator for the implementation of resolution 2231, and Joao Vale de Almeida, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the UN.

29 June 2017 – Around 100 young people from 54 countries are raising their voices and harnessing social media to help mobilize support for a world free of nuclear weapons, and advance the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

Youth are among the 1,000 participants at this week’s Science and Technology 2017 Conference, held in Vienna, Austria, which provides a forum for scientists around the world to exchange knowledge and share advances in monitoring and verification technologies of relevance to the CTBT, which prohibits nuclear explosions anywhere in the world.

The meeting, which concludes on Friday, is convened by the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, known as the CTBTO, a UN partner organization.

“Although we are not government leaders or in a position to influence public policy, we have a voice and when we use our voice collectively, we can make a big impact,” said Carlos Rodriguez, a student at the University of Dallas in the United States.

“We have to find ways to collaborate across borders to ensure that we live in a peaceful and safe world that future generations can enjoy,” he added.

The youth listened to presentations from scientists around the world specializing in technologies for detecting nuclear events and committed to using social media and blogs to encourage others to push for the Treaty’s entry into force.

For the CTBT, adopted by the General Assembly in September 1996, to enter into force, ratification is required from the so-called Annex II countries. Of these, China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and the US have yet to ratify.

“There is a big nuclear threat at the moment. It is important that we know that there is a solution. The CTBT is the first step towards a world free of nuclear weapons, which guarantees peace for all,” said Juan Bustamante, a young Ecuadorian who is studying in Vancouver, Canada.

He encouraged other young people to talk with their friends about the Treaty and its importance to raise awareness of the issue and push for the instrument’s entry into force.

“Nuclear weapons should be a thing of the past,” said 21-year-old Kevin Bai, who was born in China, raised in the US and is currently studying and working in Dubai.

His message is addressed to young people in Asia: “The eyes of the world are set in Asia because it will be the centre of growth and progress. If you are an Asian resident, you should not be satisfied with being a leader in economic development or scientific research. You should demand that it also becomes a leader in peace and diplomacy because stability is the bedrock upon which human civilization is built,” he emphasized.

“If you think nuclear warfare and nuclear tests do not belong in our societies and we should get rid of them, then you can contribute to this movement,” he went on to say, encouraging young people to familiarize themselves with the Treaty and spread the word.

Magdelene Wangui, a young woman from Nairobi, Kenya, called on African youth to support those living in the Annex II countries to demand that their governments take an affirmative decision.

Meanwhile, 26-year-old Alan Juarez of Mexico summed it up like this: “We have the power to change the future… We can raise our voices around the world, educate ourselves and change the situation. All these tensions of nuclear weapons and the human rights crises, we have the power to end these problems.”

Rizwan Asghar comes from Pakistan, one of the eight countries whose ratification is still pending. “I come from a country where we still have to feed millions of people. At the same time, my country invests billions of dollars in the development of nuclear weapons. I do not understand that rationale. There is no logic in increasing the nuclear arsenal,” he said.

“It is time for Pakistan to ratify the Treaty,” he stressed, as he invited the youth of his country to use social media networks to generate pressure on politicians with influence in these decisions.

Prior to the adopting of the CTBT in 1996, some 2,000 nuclear tests were carried out worldwide. The US carried out 1,000 of them, followed by the former Soviet Union, which was responsible for 700.

Three countries have broken the de facto moratorium since 1996: India and Pakistan in 1998; and DPRK in 2006, 2009 and 2013, and then again twice in 2016.

Natalia Zhurina of Russia, a country that has already ratified the instrument, underscored the importance of taking that step.

“It is vital because we owe a peaceful future to our children and to the generations to come.”

29 June 2017 – Top United Nations officials today declared that ending the occupation is the only way to lay the foundations for enduring peace that meets Israeli security needs and Palestinian aspirations for statehood and sovereignty.

“It is the only way to achieve the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people,” Secretary-General António Guterres said in a message to a forum held at UN Headquarters to mark 50 years since the start of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, which resulted in Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza and the Syrian Golan.

In the message, read out by Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Mr. Guterres said that it is time to return to direct negotiations to resolve all final status issues on the basis of relevant UN resolutions, agreements and international law. It is also time to end the conflict by establishing an independent Palestinian State, side by side in peace and security with the State of Israel, he added.

The occupation, he noted, has imposed a heavy humanitarian and development burden on the Palestinian people. “Generations of Palestinians have grown up in crowded refugee camps, many in abject poverty, and with little or no prospect of a better life for their children.”

Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will remove a driver of violent extremism and terrorism in the Middle East, the Secretary-General added, and “open the doors to cooperation, security, prosperity and human rights for all.”

Ms. Mohammed, in her own remarks, said today is an occasion not only to reflect on the costs and consequences of 50 years of occupation, but also to look ahead at what must be done to end this situation.

“I understand the deep sense of despair of the Palestinian people. For far too long, the international community has failed to find a just and lasting solution to their displacement,” she told the forum, which is convened by the General Assembly’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

“The lives of generations of Palestinians and Israelis have been confined by a conflict that has shaped the physical and human landscape with concrete walls, checkpoints, and watch towers, all under a heavy atmosphere of fear, mutual distrust and despair,” she continued.

“Some think that the situation can be managed. They are all wrong. It must be resolved.” Real peace, Ms. Mohammed stressed, cannot be achieved without a just and lasting resolution, adding that the two-State solution is the only path to ensure that Palestinians and Israelis can realize their national and historic aspirations and live in peace, security and dignity.

The two-day forum brings together international experts, including from the State of Palestine and Israel, representatives of the diplomatic community, civil society, as well as academics and students to discuss the ongoing occupation in a series of interactive panels.

29 June 2017 – Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the closure of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI), which will take place on Friday, and reiterated the UN family’s commitment to helping the people and Government of the West African nation to sustain their hard-won peace.

“The Secretary-General congratulates the people and Government of Côte d’Ivoire for their determination and efforts in turning the page of crisis and conflict,” said Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, in a statement.

After 13 years, the UN is completing the peacekeeping phase of its engagement with Côte d’Ivoire, after successfully assisting the country in restoring peace and stability following the post-2010 election crisis.

When UNOCI closes its doors on 30 June, it will mark the most recent successful completion of a peacekeeping operation in West Africa since the UN mission in Sierra Leone in 2005.

This milestone was made possible thanks to a significantly improved security situation in Côte d’Ivoire, as well as the extension of State authority and the deployment of public services, the strengthening of democratic institutions, progress in security sector reform and steady economic development.

The Secretary-General reiterated the commitment of the rest of the UN family present in Côte d’Ivoire to support the Government with the implementation of outstanding reform activities with a view to ensuring that “the hard-won peace can be sustained and the country and its people will continue to progress and thrive,” the spokesperson added.

Mr. Guterres also commended the significant contributions of all partners national, regional and international in the Ivorian peace process, and is appreciative of the excellent leadership of his Special Representative, Aïchatou Mindaoudou, and her predecessors.

Paying tribute to all uniformed and civilian personnel who served with UNOCI, the Secretary-General expressed his profound respect for the memory of the 150 peacekeepers who lost their lives in the service of peace with the Mission, and his gratitude to all troop- and police- contributing countries.