Credit: UN / Ambassador José  Singer, Special Envoy from the Dominican Republic to the United Nations Security Council and President of the Security Council for the month of April 2020.

By Gary Raynaldo      DIPLOMATIC TIMES

UNITED NATIONS – NEW YORK –  The Dominican Republic officially took over as President of the UN Security Council Wednesday for the month of April.   Ambassador José  Singer, Special Envoy from the Dominican Republic to the Security Council and President of the Council in April laid out the Council’s programme of work for the month.  Ambassador Singer addressed journalists Wednesday via a video teleconference. 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.  The  Dominican Republic follows China which held the presidency the month of March. With COVID-19 still likely to make physical meetings difficult, the Council is expected to continue to use the provisional measures set out in the 27 March letter from Ambassador Zhang Jun (China), the March president of the Security Council.  Meetings will be held by video teleconferencing (VTC) that include open and closed VTC sessions.  The Dominican Republic envoy said the Council will take up the quarterly open debate on the Israel/Palestine issue. He said other Middle East issues include with a briefing on Syria with an open VTC briefing on the political and humanitarian situation and closed VTC on the status of the elimination of the use of chemical weapons. Ambassador Singer said on April 16, the Security Council will discuss the conflict in Yemen. The five-year civil war in Yemen has left more than 100,000 people dead, most of them civilians, according to relief organisations, and 3.6 million displaced in what the UN has called the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

“As you know, the (Yemen) conflict has evolved into the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world…with over 80 percent of the  population  needing some form of humanitarian aid.”

-Ambassador José  Singer, Special Envoy from the Dominican Republic.

The envoy noted that  UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a global ceasefire on hostilities last week as the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic. “Unfortunately, over the  weekend there was a serious escalation of hostilities (in Yemen conflict) jeopardizing the (UN) special envoy (to Yemen) attempts to mediate the crisis,” ambassador Singer said.  Regarding African issues, the Council will discuss developments in relation to UNISFA in Abyei and Sudan/South Sudan in open and closed VTC meetings. Also DR Congo, Mali (UNMINUSMA)  and Western Sahara.

COVID-19 Meeting Not Officially On UN Security Council Agenda

While not currently planned for the month, there may be a meeting to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on international peace and security,  according to sources. A Council product on this issue during the month is also a possibility. The impacts of COVID-19 are expected to be part of the discussion of several issues on the Council’s agenda in April.

Dominican Republic joined Security Council as Non-Parliamentary Member Last Year

Credit: UN Photo/Ariana Lindquist /   José Singer, Special Envoy of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, addresses the Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan 17 September 2019.

For the first time in the nation’s history, the Dominican Republic joined the Security Council as a non-parliamentary member last year. The Dominican Republic has been a member of the United Nations since 1945, but only made is debut on the Council in 2019. The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean nation of 11 Million people that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti to the west. The U.N. Security Council is comprised of 15 members, of which the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia are permanent members. The temporary two-year seats are allocated by region and awarded by the 193 members of the General Assembly after years of campaigning.