Credit: Gary Raynaldo /  © Diplomatic Times /  Ambassador Karen Pierce, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of November briefs reporters at UN world headquarters Nov. 1, 2019. 

By Gary Raynaldo    /  DIPLOMATIC TIMES

UNITED NATIONS  –  NEW YORK  –  The UNITED KINGDOM officially took over the rotating Presidency of the UN Security Council Friday.  The presidency of the council is held by each of the members for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the member states’ Names.  United Kingdom  follows South Africa which held the presidency the month of October.  The UN Security Council comprises  15 member states, including five permanent members – the United Kingdom, China, Russia, the United States and France.  The UK will “put ordinary citizens at the heart of its Presidency of the Security Council”, as it takes over from South Africa.

“During our Presidency, the UK wants to focus on the effect of problems in international peace and security on ordinary citizens. The issues before the Security Council include the targeting of hospitals, the use of chemical weapons and rape being used as a weapon of war. All too often the perpetrators walk free, and the leaders that let it happen remain in positions of power. We want to use our Presidency to promote practical steps to establish the facts of what is happening on the ground and address impunity, and highlight the costs of impunity, including the impact on millions of people around the world.”

– Karen Pierce, the Permanent Representative and Ambassador for the UK Mission to the UN.

South Africa Passes The Presidency of Security Council To  UNITED KINGDOM 

As the Presidency of the Security Council passes from South Africa🇿🇦 to the United Kingdom🇬🇧, @EnglandRugby is about to take on the @springboks in the #RWCFinal

We are aiming to deliver a successful Presidency, while securing an equally impressive result on Saturday🏆😉#UKPres pic.twitter.com/2PO5uDMPIB

— UK at the UN 🇬🇧 (@UKUN_NewYork) October 31, 2019

South Africa Ambassador to  UN Jerry Matthews Matjila and UK Ambassador Karen Pierce. 

SOUTH  AFRICA Triumphs Over  ENGLAND in  RUGBY WORLD CUP   32 -12

United Kingdom Wants To  Give a Voice To Those Persecuted in Conflicts 

VIDEO Diplomatic Times  /  Ambassador Karen Pierce, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of November briefs reporters at UN world headquarters Nov. 1, 2019. 

“That’s why we will be giving a voice to those people affected by conflict, persecution and discrimination through those we invite to brief the Council. We will raise issues around the importance of respect for international law, religious persecution, attacks on media freedom and women, peace and security. We will also be looking at some of the components of sustainable solutions to conflict through our open debate on the role of the reconciliation processes and our support of the Rules Based International System with the UN at its heart.”

–Ambassador Karen Pierce, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations

Credit: Gary Raynaldo /  © Diplomatic Times /  Ambassador Karen Pierce, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of November briefs reporters at UN world headquarters Nov. 1, 2019. 

The United Kingdom Will Also Focus on Middle East Issues and Africa

The Security Council  in November will address Peace and  Security in the Middle East and  Africa with meetings on Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Iraq. The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court will also brief the Security Council on the situation in Libya. There is also scheduled meetings on Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the  Congo, Sudan / South Sudan, and the Sahel. 

DIPLOMATIC TIME  Video /  Ambassador Karen Pierce, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of November briefs reporters at UN world headquarters Nov. 1, 2019. Ambassador Pierce  comments on The Balfour Declaration issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War announcing support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.

In 2017  Pierce, the Foreign Office (FCO) political director, was appointed UK ambassador to the United Nations, the first woman to be given the most prestigious post in the British diplomatic service since the UN’s formation in 1945.