Ethiopia concludes presidency of UN Security Council

2 Oct 2017

Ethiopia has successfully concluded its month-long presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

One of Ethiopia’s priorities during its membership of the United Nations Security Council has been strengthening the partnership between the UN and the African Union in the area of peace and security and during its presidency this issue was highlighted.

Ethiopia chaired several meetings of the Council including the reform of United Nations peacekeeping, resolution of conflicts in Somalia, South Sudan and in the Chad Basin, along with other issues of international peace and security.

Ethiopia also led the UNSC delegation that participated at the 11^th Annual Joint Consultative Meeting with the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC), which took place on 7^th and 8^th September 2017 at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa.

The highlight of the Ethiopia’s Presidency was the High-Level Open Debate on the Reform of the UN Peacekeeping Operations, held on 20^th September, chaired by PM Hailemariam. The debate focused on recommendations from the previous Secretary-General and on the reform process initiated by the current Secretary-General. All 15 countries of the Security Council unanimously backed the resolution on UN Peacekeeping reform, urging higher efficiency of peacekeeping operations, including through more thorough planning.

At the informal wrap-up briefing session on the Ethiopia’s presidency, Ambassador Tekeda Alemu thanked members of the Council for their support. Ambassador Alemu chaired the meeting, which included contributions from a number of Security Council members on the month’s programme of work. Among topics discussed were the joint annual consultation of the UNSC and AUPSC, North Korea, Peacekeeping and Counter Terrorism.

The United Nations Security Council has five permanent members – United States, United Kingdom, Russia, China and France – and 10 non-permanent members. The presidency of the Council for the month of October goes to France.

Congratulations to all the team at our mission in New York for a job well done!

Note: Look out for our September newsletter, which will include detailed coverage of Ethiopia at the UN.

Ethiopia at the UN

What happened during the month of September under the Ethiopian Presidency of the UN Security Council?

1. High Level Open Debate attended by Heads of State and Government
2. Two Ministerial Level Meetings of the Security Council
3. UN Security Council Mission to Addis Ababa

11th Joint annual consultation between the UNSC and AUPSC held in Addis Ababa
4. Focus on Africa

Somalia, South Sudan, Darfur, Mali, Lake Chad, Guinea Bissau and Libya
5. Urgent and Topical Issues

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Myanmar
6. Thematic Issues

Peacekeeping, AU-UN partnership, reform of PSC Architecture, Non-proliferation, Counter-terrorism
7. Six Resolutions and one Presidential Statement adopted
- The situation in Mali S/RES/2374 (2017)
- Non-proliferation/Democratic People’s Republic of Korea S/RES/2375 (2017)
- The situation in Libya S/RES/2376 (2017)
- Approving the size, operational aspects and mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia S/RES/2377 (2017)
- Reform of United Nations peacekeeping operations S/RES/2378 (2017) – proposed by Ethiopia and co-sponsored by 61-Member States including the fifteen members of the Security Council
- Threats to international peace and security S/RES/2379 (2017)
- The situation in Guinea-Bissau S/PRST/2017/17