|
Ghana chairs UN Security Council for
October
Accra, Oct. 4, Ghanadot - Ghana gets to chair the UN
Security Council for October 2007. On topic for the
council will be the situations in Somalia and Côte d’Ivoire,
and the topic of women, peace and security, as outlined by
His Excellency Leslie Kojo Christian, Permanent
Representative of Ghana as work for his country's
presidency.
Speaking at a Headquarters press conference, Mr. Christian
said Raphael Tuju, Foreign Minister of Kenya, would address
the Council on October 3 on the situation in Somalia.
The 15-member body would also hear a briefing by Ahmedou
Ould-Abdallah, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s new Special
Representative for the East African country, a statement
from the UN Information Centre in Accra on Wednesday said.
He said that on October 15, the Council would hear a
briefing on developments in Côte d’Ivoire from Djibril
Yipene Bassolet, Foreign Minister of Burkina Faso, whose
President Blaise Compaore had facilitated the Ouagadougou
Agreement between the parties to the dispute in that
country.
Among other concerns, the Council would consider whether
sanctions on Côte d’Ivoire should be lifted.
The Council’s annual discussion of peacekeeping from a
gender perspective, and a review of progress in the
implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and
security, would take place on 23 October, he said, adding
that the concept paper for the anticipated day-long
programme was still being finalized.
In addition to those topics, the Secretary-General’s Special
Representatives for Guinea-Bissau and Iraq would present the
latest developments in their countries of concern on 3rd
October and on the morning of 22 October, respectively. The
monthly briefing on the Middle East, followed by
consultations on that topic, was planned for 24 October.
Also on the agenda for October were the renewal of the
mandates of four peacekeeping missions, he said. They were
the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH),
United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), United
Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)
and the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS).
Asked if further consideration of the situation in Myanmar
was planned, he said the Security Council had already
determined to request a briefing by Ibrahim Gambari, the
Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to that country.
Regarding the attack on African Union peacekeepers condemned
by the Council, he said members were certainly concerned by
its repercussions. However, possible African troop
contributors to the mandated African Union-United Nations
Hybrid Operation for Darfur (UNAMID) should not waver in
their commitments. Plans for the mission had not changed.
In response to further questions, he said the Council’s
October agenda did not include, at the present time,
consideration of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, or
the situation involving Georgia and the Russian Federation.
Answering other questions in his national capacity, he said
Ghana agreed with the African position on Security Council
reform, namely, that the continent should have two permanent
seats with veto power.
He also said cooperation between the African Union and the
United Nations had become very good and was expected to
become even better in the future.
Source GNA
|
