ReliefWeb

Overview

In February, the UK will have the presidency of the Security Council. Its signature events will focus on climate change and COVID-19. The high-level meeting on security risks in climate-vulnerable contexts is expected to be chaired by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The COVID-19 meeting will focus on equitable access to vaccines, especially in conflict-affected areas; UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is expected to chair.

There will also be a briefing on the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and the Secretary-General’s twelfth strategic-level report on this issue.

Several meetings are planned on Somalia. The Council will receive a briefing on developments in Somalia and the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). A meeting is also planned on the 751 Somalia sanctions committee. At the end of the month the Council is expected to renew the authorisation of the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

Other African issues include:

• CAR, update on developments and the most recent MINUSCA report; and
• Sudan, renewal of the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee.

Regarding the Middle East, there will be the monthly meeting on developments in Yemen, as well as a briefing by the chair of the 2140 Yemen Sanctions Committee. The renewal of Yemen financial and travel ban sanctions and the mandate of the Yemen Panel of Experts is also anticipated.

Other Middle East issues that will be considered include:

• Iraq, update on UNAMI and on the missing Kuwaiti and third-country nationals and missing Kuwaiti property, including the national archives;

• The Middle East, including the Palestinian Question, the monthly briefing; and

• Syria, the regular briefings on the political and humanitarian situations and on the use of chemical weapons.

Two meetings on Asia are anticipated: on Myanmar and the 1718 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Sanctions Committee. Finally, there will also be a meeting on the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH)