The Week Ahead at the Security Council

14 - 18 May 2018

Dear Colleague,

On Monday (14 May), the Security Council is scheduled to adopt a presidential statement on peacekeeping. There will be a briefing on the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) by the Special Representative and head of UNMIK, Zahir Tanin, on Monday.

On the same day, a briefing will be held on the Council’s recent visiting mission to Bangladesh and Myanmar by the mission’s co-chairs (Kuwait, Peru and the UK). Consultations will follow and are expected to feature a briefing via VTC by High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

On Tuesday (15 May), the Council will adopt a resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

Also on Tuesday, UN Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) Michael Keating and AU Special Representative and head of the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) Francisco Caetano José Madeira are expected to brief on the situation in Somalia, both via video-teleconference. The briefing will be followed by consultations.

On Wednesday (16 May), Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura is scheduled to brief on the political situation in Syria. Consultations are expected to follow.

Also on Wednesday, a briefing, followed by consultations, will be held on the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS). Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Tayé-Brook Zerihoun and Ambassador Mauro Vieira of Brazil, the chair of the Peacebuilding Commission’s country-specific configuration for Guinea-Bissau, are the anticipated briefers.

On Thursday (17 May), the Council will hold an open debate on “upholding international law within the context of the maintenance of international peace and security.” The meeting will be chaired by President Andrzej Duda of Poland. Chef de Cabinet Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti is expected to read a statement on behalf of Secretary-General António Guterres. Judge Hisashi Owada will brief on behalf of the President of the International Court of Justice, while Judge Theodor Meron, President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, will also brief.

At the subsidiary-body level, there will be a meeting of the 1988 Afghanistan Sanctions Committee on Tuesday (15 May), which is expected to focus on the 9th annual report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team.

On Friday (18 May), the 1718 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Sanctions Committee will meet to discuss the situation in the DPRK and the impact of sanctions.

Also on Friday, there will be a meeting of the 1533 Democratic Republic of the Congo Sanctions Committee to discuss the final report of the Group of Experts.

Background information on these and other issues has been published in the May 2018 Monthly Forecast.

Further Council developments will be published on What’s In Blue.