Cairo, Egypt – The UN Security Council is hosting a series of intensive meetings this week. The meetings reflect the scale of the tensions and crises affecting various regions of the world. These range from the Middle East to Latin America and Africa. Palestine, Iran, Yemen, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo top the agenda for discussions. The situation in Haiti and Colombia is also being monitored.

Highlights

Palestinian issue
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Colombia
Iran

Palestinian issue

At the beginning of the week, the Council held its monthly open briefing on developments in the Middle East, particularly the Palestinian issue. Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN Deputy Special Coordinator for Peacebuilding in the Middle East, delivered a comprehensive presentation. This was followed by a closed meeting to discuss developments in the file. This discussion occurred in light of the ongoing Israeli escalation.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Council will also hear a briefing today, Tuesday, from the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bintou Keita, on the security and political situation there. This comes particularly as the MONUSCO stabilization mission continues its work.

Colombia

Colombia, for its part, is scheduled to hold its quarterly session on Friday. During this session, UN envoy Miroslav Jenča will present a report on the progress of the peace process. On the same day, the Council will consider, in closed consultations, the future of the Yemen Sanctions Committee. This consideration is pursuant to Resolution 2140. It coincides with discussions on the final report of the Panel of Experts on Yemen.

Among the hot issues on the table is Haiti. The international community awaits a decisive decision from the Security Council on the future of the multinational force. This force supports the fight against violent gangs there.

Iran

As for Iran, it has returned to the forefront with force. This came after France, Germany, and the United Kingdom activated the UN sanctions snapback mechanism on Tehran. This activation occurred amid controversy over its compliance.