Press Conference by Security Council President on June Programme of Work

A high-level debate on the root causes of the conflict in the Middle East and North Africa would be the Security Council’s signature event over the next month, Vassily A. Nebenzia (Russian Federation), Council President for June, said today, as he laid out the organ’s monthly programme of work at a Headquarters press conference.

Mr. Nebenzia said the 25 June debate would focus on the core issues of the Middle East crisis, particularly the question of Palestine.  Chairing the meeting would be Sergei Ryabkov, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, and the Secretary-General was expected to deliver a briefing.  Other debates scheduled for the month would include one on the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, on 6 June, and another on the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), on 26 June.

The adoption of a draft resolution on the Middle East, including the question of Palestine, was scheduled for the afternoon of 1 June, he continued.  Another draft resolution — on the Democratic Republic of the Congo sanctions regime — was scheduled for 26 June, while adoptions on the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals were planned for 27 June.

Furthermore, he said, adoptions pertaining to two missions in Africa — the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) — would take place on 28 June.  He said elections for the Security Council and the International Court of Justice would be held on 8 June and 22 June, respectively.

Mr. Nebenzia went on to state that 11 briefings were on the June calendar, including four related to United Nations mission in Africa — UNAMID on 11 June, MINUSMA on 14 June, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) on 21 June, and the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) on 28 June.  Council members would hear briefings on the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) and the Lord’s Resistance Army on 13 June, and on the International Criminal Court’s Sudan dossier, scheduled for 20 June.

He said the Council’s monthly briefing on the Middle East, including the question of Palestine, would take place on 19 June, and on 27 June, it would take up the political and humanitarian situations in Syria.  Another briefing, on non-proliferation, would focus on resolution 2231 (2015) regarding the Iran nuclear issue, and was scheduled for the afternoon of 27 June.

A briefing on peacebuilding and sustaining peace, which would include presentations by the former and current Chairs of the Peacebuilding Commission, was scheduled for the morning of 29 June, he said, adding that another briefing, on mine action, would be held in the afternoon.

Mr. Nebenzia then took questions, including one on whether the Security Council would take up the developing situation between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.  In response, he said the Council was closely monitoring discussions between the two parties, and events developing over the coming weeks would determine what steps, if any, it would take.

Asked about the closed consultations on Yemen, scheduled for 18 June, he said at there was no intention to move those consultations to an open meeting at the present time.

For the full programme of work, please see www.un.org/en/sc/programme/.

For information media. Not an official record.