Ambassador  Martin Kimani, Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations (Credit: UN Photo / Evan Schneider)

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED  NATIONS   –   NEW  YORK  –    KENYA  officially took over as President of the UN Security Council Friday  for the month of October  with a focus on International Peace and  Security.    Martin Kimani, Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations and president of the Security Council for October, laid out the Council’s programme of work for the month during a press briefing with reporters at UN headquarters in New York.  The Republic of   Kenya   won a seat on the powerful UN Security Council for 2021/22 beating rival Djibouti last year.  

Supporters say Nairobi can bring to the table its experience of supporting unstable governments in Somalia and South Sudan, and in assisting refugees in the region. Ethiopia and  ongoing situations of tension including Guinea, Mali are likely to consume some of the Council’s attention during Kenya’s term. Kenya is also a leader in East Africa.

"I look forward to joining with other world leaders at the #UNSC in confronting and addressing the intractable challenges to peace, security and development that face our world today." H.E Uhuru Kenyatta President of Kenya. @KenyaMissionUN#KenyainUNSC #KenyaAsafePairofHands pic.twitter.com/WuIa1LuVzH

— ForeignAffairsKenya (@ForeignOfficeKE) October 1, 2021

President Uhuru Kenyatta To Address Security Council  in October

Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya, addresses the open debate with Security Council members in connection with co-operation between the United Nations and regional and sub-regional organizations  Apr. 19, 2021 (UN Photo /Evan  Schneider)

President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya plans to chair the UN session  “Diversity and State-building” under the agenda item “Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace” in October.  The fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray will be addressed  and Mali’s instability will  be debated.  Terrorist groups expanding  across the Africa Sahel region and ethnic violence is also a crucial  issue for the UN  Security Council. 

African Issues On The Security Council Agenda for October 

The Council is also expected to conduct a visiting mission to the Sahel during the month, travelling to Mali and Niger. France and Niger are co-leading the mission.

Other African issues on the programme of work in October are:

• Democratic Republic of the Congo, a briefing on the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO);
• Western Sahara, a briefing in consultations on the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and a renewal of the mission’s mandate;
• Central African Republic, a briefing on the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA);
• Somalia, a briefing on the work of the 751 Somalia Sanctions Committee;
• Sudan/South Sudan, a briefing on the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA); and
• Mali, a briefing on the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

The Council will hold its monthly meetings on the political and humanitarian situations and on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Other Middle East issues on the programme of work this month include:

• Yemen, the monthly meeting on developments;
• Golan Heights, a briefing in consultations on the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF);
• “The Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question”, the quarterly open debate; and
• Lebanon, a briefing in consultations on the implementation of resolution 1559.

Two issues in the Americas will be discussed in October:

• Haiti, a briefing on the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and a renewal of BINUH’s mandate; and
• Colombia, a briefing on the UN Verification Mission in Colombia and a renewal of the mission’s mandate.