UN – French Security Council Presidency (June 2020)
France will hold the monthly UN Security Council presidency starting on June 1. The French presidency is one of three consecutive European presidencies, following that of Estonia and preceding that of Germany, and as in 2019, we are working closely with our European partners.
In keeping with the measures taken by the UN to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, Security Council meetings will continue to take place via teleconference.
Throughout the month, the Security Council will assess the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on peacekeeping and maintaining international security, and on all conflict situations. A meeting will be devoted to the pandemic’s impact on conditions for holding peacekeeping operations and the security of their personnel. On July 18, France will also host a meeting with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi focusing on the pandemic’s impact on refugees and internally displaced persons.
Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian will chair a ministerial meeting on Mali and the Sahel with a view to renewing the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), with Mali in attendance.
June 26 will mark the 75th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter in San Francisco. On that occasion, Jean-Yves le Drian and his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, will co-chair a ministerial meeting of the Alliance for Multilateralism, which includes the nations most committed to international cooperation and supports modernizing the UN and opening the multilateral system more broadly to civil society actors and the private sector. This meeting will be devoted to reforming global health architecture to better deal with future pandemics and the fight against the manipulation of information in times of crisis.