This week, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield assumes the presidency of the UN Security Council.
The ambassador’s agenda for August includes a “focus” on human rights. Human rights undoubtedly deserve to be on the council agenda, as does catastrophic conflict-induced food insecurity, which the US ambassador has made her signature issue. But tackling both issues effectively will require engaging more actively on crises including in Syria, Sudan, and Haiti where the council has done far too little.
In Sudan, where the UN has reported on mass graves in Darfur, parties to the armed conflict have committed war crimes, and almost four million people have been forcibly displaced, the Security Council has been woefully absent. UN peacekeepers were withdrawn from the country two years ago over the forceful objections of civil society, including Human Rights Watch. The council should deepen its engagement and steer the UN’s response to the changing circumstances by asking the UN secretary-general to give it a report with options on how the UN, including the special political mission the Security Council authorized through to the end of the year, could better protect civilians.
In Haiti, a similar report is already being prepared, laying out options for an international force to address the country’s escalating human rights and humanitarian crisis, with mass killings, sexual violence, and kidnappings amid widespread food insecurity. The ambassador has announced that the United States is willing to introduce a resolution on a Kenya-led multinational force to combat violence by criminal groups, noting that the government of Haiti has asked for this support.
Finally, the council failed to renew its authorization to use vital cross-border aid corridors for the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian assistance in Syria. Shortly thereafter, the Syrian government sent a letter to the UN stating it could use the crossing – but only if the UN adheres to a set of untenable conditions. Negotiations continue to allow aid organizations access while not leaving them at the mercy of the Syrian government’s whims. The US presidency of the Security Council can help ensure this moves forward.
In all three places, further inaction during August could mean more carnage, suffering, and atrocities. But if the diplomats can instead shepherd the deadlocked council towards concrete outcomes, lives could very well be saved.
