The members of the United Nations Security Council have agreed on the draft resolution regarding the renewal of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) mandate for another six months.
The resolution is expected to be adopted by the Security Council on Wednesday.
The final draft of the resolution says that the Security Council “urges the sides and all involved participants to seize the important opportunity presented by the consultations of UN Consultant, Jane Holl Lute, on a way forward, by engaging actively and constructively in those consultations, and urges them to agree terms of reference which would constitute a consensus starting point for meaningful results-oriented negotiations leading to a settlement within a foreseeable horizon, and to renew their political will and commitment to a settlement under United Nations auspices”.
It adds that the Security Council requests the Secretary-General to submit by 15 April 2019 a report on his Good Offices and on progress towards reaching a consensus starting point for meaningful results-oriented negotiations.
Furthermore it requests the Secretary-General to submit by 10 July 2019 a report on implementation of this resolution, including progress on confidence- building measures-, efforts towards establishing mechanisms to alleviate tensions and address island-wide matters and efforts of the two Leaders to prepare the communities for a settlement, and on how UN activities on Cyprus can be best configured to advance political progress while preserving stability, and to keep the Security Council updated on events as necessary.
The Security Council reaffirms all its relevant resolutions on Cyprus, in particular resolution 1251 (1999) of 29 June 1999 and subsequent resolutions.
It also urges the sides to renew their commitment to an enduring, comprehensive and just settlement based on a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, as set out in relevant Security Council resolutions, stressing that the status quo is unsustainable.
The Security Council expresses serious concern at the increased number of violations in the military status quo along the ceasefire lines and calls on the sides and all involved parties to respect UNFICYP’s mandated authority in the buffer zone, further calls on the sides to continue to engage, as a matter of urgency and while respecting the mandate of UNFICYP, in consultations with UNFICYP on the demarcation of the buffer zone, and strongly recommends the use of the 2018 United Nations aide-memoire by the sides to ensure peace and security in the buffer zone.
Furthermore the members of the Security Council welcome the initiatives undertaken by the Secretary-General to standardize a culture of performance in UN peacekeeping, and reaffirm their support for the development of a comprehensive and integrated performance policy framework that identifies clear standards of performance for evaluating all United Nations civilian and uniformed personnel working in and supporting peacekeeping operations that facilitates effective and full implementation of mandates, and includes comprehensive and objective methodologies based on clear and well-defined benchmarks to ensure accountability for underperformance and incentives and recognition for outstanding performance, and call on him to apply it to UNFICYP.
They also call on the leaders of the two communities to promote peace education across the island, including by further empowering the Technical Committee on Education to address impediments to peace in school books, as a contribution to trust-building between the communities.
The draft resolution urges the implementation and further development of confidence-building measures, including those aimed at improving mobile phone and electricity interconnectivity, based on a shared vision for the future and joint actions.
(Cyprus News Agency)
