UN Security Council: November programme under Latvia's presidency
· BehindLines newsroom
Members of the United Nations Security Council adopted the month's provisional programme of work on 2 November, according to the summary by Security Council Report, an independent research organisation that follows the body's work. Latvia holds the rotating presidency in November. This is a forward-looking schedule: meeting dates, and the outcome of the votes it announces, may still change.
A debate on emerging technologies
According to Security Council Report, the Latvian presidency has chosen as its main event a high-level open debate on emerging technologies and security, held under the item "maintenance of international peace and security". Secretary-General António Guterres and a civil society representative are due to speak. The source does not give a date for the session.
According to the Ukrainian site Liga.net, which cites Latvia's UN ambassador, Sanita Pavļuta-Deslandes, as reported by the outlet Delfi, this is the first time the country presides over the Council, starting on 1 November. About 90% of the agenda consists of mandatory meetings, but the presidency may call one or two extra sessions; Riga intends to use them to keep the war in Ukraine on the agenda and to rebut Russian propaganda.
Election to the International Court of Justice
On 3 November the Council and the General Assembly are due to vote separately but simultaneously to fill seats on the International Court of Justice: nine candidates are competing for five posts, according to the same summary. Background: under the Court's Statute, a candidate must obtain the required majority in both bodies. The results were not known when this article was written.
Mandates and sanctions up for renewal
Several deadlines fall in mid-November. Security Council Report says a vote is expected before the mandate of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), which includes support for the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism, expires on 15 November, as does that of the mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). The sanctions regime on Al-Shabaab in Somalia, including the maritime interdiction, expires on 30 November; its panel of experts has a mandate until 31 December.
For Yemen, the asset freeze and travel ban measures are to be renewed, and the panel of experts' mandate runs until 15 December. These measures expire on 14 November 2026, according to the text of resolution 2801 (adopted on 14 November 2025 by 13 votes in favour and 2 abstentions, those of China and Russia), as relayed by Global Sanctions, and according to Security Council Report's monthly forecast; only the programme summary gives 15 November. Last year's vote is an old fact: only the upcoming one is current. Also according to the forecast, large-scale hostilities have resumed since September 2026 and the experts describe growing Houthi military capability. France, the United Kingdom and the United States are presented as favouring more pressure on the Houthis and Iran, while Russia and China are described as preferring a negotiated settlement.
Other meetings
The monthly forecast also lists the monthly Syria meeting, consultations on Lebanon under resolution 1701, a briefing on South Sudan, the semi-annual session on International Criminal Court activities in Libya, a private meeting on the African Union mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) and closed consultations on North Korea. According to the programme summary, members are also to continue their informal straw polls on candidates for Secretary-General.
What this changes
These renewals follow an annual cycle: the new information is the calendar, not the mandates themselves. The decisions remain to be taken. The coming days will show whether the Council reaches unanimity on these files or whether divisions over Yemen are again reflected in the votes.