Overview
In August, India will have the presidency of the Security Council. Most meetings are expected to be in person this month.
India has chosen to convene two signature events during its presidency. One is a high-level videoconference (VTC) open debate on maritime security. Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, will chair the meeting. Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, the Secretary-General’s Chef de Cabinet, and Ghada Fathi Waly, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), are expected to brief the Council. A presidential statement is an expected outcome.
India is also planning to hold a ministerial-level open debate on “Technology and Peacekeeping”. India’s Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, will chair the debate. Under-Secretaries-General for Peace Operations and Operational Support, Jean-Pierre Lacroix and Atul Khare, respectively, are expected to brief. A presidential statement is an anticipated outcome. India may also pursue a resolution on the protection of peacekeepers during the month.
The Council will meet to discuss the Secretary-General’s 13th strategic-level report on the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Da’esh) in August. India’s Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, is expected to chair the meeting. Under-Secretary-General Vladimir Voronkov, the head of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), and Assistant Secretary-General Michèle Coninsx, the Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), are expected to brief.
The Council is expected to hold its monthly meetings on the political and humanitarian situations and on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Other Middle East issues on the programme of work this month are expected to be:
- Lebanon, a meeting on the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the renewal of UNIFIL’s mandate;
- Yemen, the monthly meeting on developments;
- “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”, the monthly meeting; and
- Iraq, a meeting on the most recent developments and the Secretary-General’s two upcoming reports concerning the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and missing Kuwaiti property and missing third party and Kuwaiti nationals.
African issues that the Council expects to address in August are:
- Somalia, a meeting on the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) and the renewal of the UNSOM mandate; and
- Mali, the renewal of the Mali asset freeze and travel ban sanctions and the mandate of the Mali Sanctions Committee’s Panel of Experts, as well as consideration of the Secretary-General’s 15 July report with recommendations on the force level of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
The quarterly briefing by the chair of the 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee is also anticipated in August.
The Council will continue to follow developments in Ethiopia (Tigray), Haiti and Myanmar closely during the month. Meetings on these and other issues are possible.
