Outcome of the French Presidency of the United Nations Security Council

France held the presidency of the United Nations Security Council from July 1 to 31, 2021. For the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, all Security Council meetings were held in person in July.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, traveled to New York on July 15, 2021 to chair a ministerial meeting on the situation in Libya. On this occasion, the Security Council adopted a presidential statement calling for the respect of the timetable for national elections, scheduled for December 24, 2021, and for the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement of October 23, 2020, insisting on the departure of mercenaries and foreign forces and the respect of the arms embargo.

The Minister also chaired a ministerial meeting on July 16, 2021, dedicated to the preservation of the humanitarian space. He called for the full implementation of international humanitarian law and the fight against impunity for perpetrators of attacks against humanitarian workers. He also presented the concrete actions undertaken by France, following the National Humanitarian Conference of 17 December 2020, to protect humanitarian space. During this meeting, the UN Deputy Secretary-General announced the forthcoming appointment of a Special Adviser on the preservation of humanitarian space.

The Security Council also adopted several important resolutions during the French presidency:

renewal of the cross-border humanitarian mechanism in Syria ;
renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Mission in support of the Hodeïda agreement in Yemen
renewal of the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus and renewal of the sanctions regime in the Central African Republic.

For all the meetings it chaired, France ensured that multilingualism, a fundamental principle for the United Nations, was respected.