Programme of Work for August 2024
Sierra Leone is the president of the Security Council in August. Council members adopted the provisional programme of work for the month earlier today (1 August).
Sierra Leone has chosen to organise two signature events. It will convene a debate titled “Addressing the historical injustice and enhancing Africa’s effective representation in the UN Security Council” under the “Maintenance of international peace and security” agenda item. Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio is expected to chair the meeting. The anticipated briefers are UN Secretary-General António Guterres, President of the UN General Assembly Dennis Francis, and a representative of academia.
The second signature event is an open debate on “A New Agenda for Peace–Addressing global, regional and national aspects of conflict prevention” under the “Peacebuilding and sustaining peace” agenda item. Sierra Leone’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Timothy Musa Kabba, is expected to chair the meeting. The anticipated briefers are Elizabeth Spehar, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support; Bankole Adeoye, African Union (AU) Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security; Hawa Sally Samai, Executive Secretary of the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion in Sierra Leone, a body established by an act signed by Sierra Leone’s Parliament in December 2020 with a mandate to prevent, manage, and resolve conflicts; and a civil society representative.
Sierra Leone will also convene a briefing on the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda, focusing on sustaining WPS commitments in the context of accelerated drawdown of peace operations. The expected briefers are UN Women Executive Director Sima Sami Bahous, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations (DPPA-DPO) Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, and a civil society representative.
Also anticipated in August is a briefing on the Secretary-General’s biannual strategic-level report on the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) to international peace and security. Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism and Head of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) Vladimir Voronkov, Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) Natalia Gherman, and a civil society representative are the expected briefers. Sierra Leone has circulated a concept note (S/2024/589) ahead of the meeting, encouraging Council members to focus in their statements on security challenges in West Africa and the Sahel.
This month, several Council members will undertake a visit to Geneva following an invitation from Switzerland to mark the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions.
Several African issues are on the programme this month.
The Council will receive the semi-annual briefing of International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Asad Ahmad Khan on the ICC’s Darfur-related activities.
Council members also expect to vote on a draft resolution extending the authorisation of the AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) ahead of its 12 August expiry.
There will be an open briefing, followed by closed consultations, on the situation in South Sudan and the work of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS Nicholas Haysom is the anticipated briefer.
The Council will hold its bimonthly briefing on the situation in Libya. Deputy Special Representative and Political Officer in Charge of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Stephanie Koury will brief on recent political, security, and humanitarian developments in the country. The chair of the 1970 Libya Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Kazuyuki Yamazaki (Japan), is expected to brief on the committee’s activities. Closed consultations are scheduled to follow the open session.
Council members are also likely to continue negotiating a draft resolution authored by France and Sierra Leone, the co-penholders on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), regarding support by the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) operating in eastern DRC since December 2023.
The Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), which expires on 31 August, through an exchange of letters with the Secretary-General.
The Security Council will also address several Middle Eastern issues in August.
Regarding Lebanon, the Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) ahead of its 31 August expiry. Prior to that, Council members will receive a briefing in closed consultations on UNIFIL from Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Mohamed Khaled Khiari. The Council will also hold a meeting with UNIFIL’s troop-contributing countries, at which Major General Cheryl Pearce, Acting Military Adviser at the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPO), will participate.
There will be an open briefing and closed consultations on Yemen. Briefings are expected from UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg and OCHA Head in Geneva and Director of the Coordination Division Ramesh Rajasingham. Major General Michael Beary, the head of the UN Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), is expected to brief in consultations.
The Security Council will hold its monthly meeting on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland is the anticipated briefer. Additional meetings on this file may be convened depending on developments in Israel and Gaza.
The Council will also hold its monthly meeting on the political process and the humanitarian situation in Syria. Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen and an OCHA official will brief on political and humanitarian developments, respectively.
The only Asian issue on the programme this month is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl (Switzerland), the chair of the 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee, is scheduled to brief Council members on the 90-day report on the committee’s work.
As in previous months, the Council may also hold one or more meetings on Ukraine in August. Council members are also likely to hold a meeting under “any other business” to mark the 16th anniversary of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war.
Council members will also continue following closely the situation in Haiti and the regional spillover from the Israel-Hamas war, including developments related to the 31 July assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. They may choose to convene meetings on these or other issues.
