The Security Council is expected to vote next Monday on a draft resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) for one year, until 31 October 2024, Security Council Report website said on Friday.
The website added that the draft blue text maintains UNSMIL’s core mandated tasks, as set out in resolution 2542 of 15 September 2020 and paragraph 16 of resolution 2570 of 16 April 2021. It indicated that the negotiations were generally smooth, saying that the UK, the penholder on Libya, circulated an initial draft text on 17 October and convened one round of negotiations on 19 October.
“The penholder then circulated a revised draft and invited comments until Monday (23 October). On Tuesday (24 October), a second revised draft was circulated and placed under silence procedure until Wednesday (25 October). Silence was broken by Brazil, China, France, and Russia. The penholder then put a third revised draft under silence procedure until yesterday (26 October). The draft passed silence and was subsequently put in blue.” The website added.
"The initial draft text prepared by the UK apparently sought a straightforward extension of UNSMIL’s mandate, which was most recently extended for one year through resolution 2656 of 28 October 2022. The penholder proposed some updated language to reflect Libya’s current political situation, mainly based on Council members’ press statement of 23 August, and the country’s humanitarian needs in the wake of Storm Daniel, which struck Libya’s eastern region on 10 September. While it seems that Council members were generally supportive of this approach, certain thematic issues required some discussion during the negotiations." It explained.
