The Week Ahead at the Security Council

5-9 February 2018

Dear Colleague,

On Monday (5 February), the Council expects to receive a briefing on chemical weapons in Syria from High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu.

There will be an open debate on working methods on Tuesday (6 February). The Executive Director of Security Council Report, Ian Martin, will be the briefer.

On Wednesday (7 February), the Special Representative and head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Zahir Tanin, is expected to brief the Council on recent developments and the latest report of the Secretary-General.

On the same day, there will be an informal interactive dialogue on the report of the independent external assessment team focused on reviewing the structure and staffing of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and related resources.

On Thursday (8 February), the Council will adopt a resolution renewing the mandate of the Panel of Experts of the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee.

Also on Thursday, Under-Secretary-General Vladimir Voronkov, the head of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, will brief on the Secretary-General’s strategic-level report on the threat emanating from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Da’esh). This briefing will be followed by consultations.

In addition, Council members may continue negotiating a draft resolution on the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Several meetings are scheduled during the week at the subsidiary body level. On Monday (5 February), the 2374 Mali Sanctions Committee, which was established in September 2017, will meet for the first time. The panel of experts is expected to present its programme of work.

The 1718 Sanctions Committee on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) will also meet on Monday. The discussion is expected to focus on the final report of the panel of experts.

On Thursday (8 February), there will be a meeting of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict to discuss its conclusions on Myanmar.

On Friday (9 February), the Military Staff Committee will meet to discuss the Military to Police transition in Haiti.

On the same day, the ad hoc Working Group on Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa will meet to discuss its programme of work for the year.

Also on Friday, the 1970 Libya Sanctions Committee will hold a meeting focused on the interim report of its panel of experts.

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

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