“Long-term stability will require the Government of Liberia to develop and sustain a self-sufficient, capable, and competent security sector to build the confidence of all Liberians,” the 15-member body said in a unanimously adopted resolution.

It endorsed the continued drawdown of the mission’s military component agreed upon last year by a further 1,129 personnel by next September, with the goal of leaving UNMIL’s military strength at some 3,750 personnel by July 2015.

As of last July there were 5,757 UN peacekeeping troops in the West African country, where the world body has played a major role in restoring stability and democracy.

At the height of its operations, which began in 2003, UNMIL totalled more than 15,000 troops and well over 1,000 police personnel, and helped oversee two series of democratic elections after more than a decade of civil war which, beyond the death toll, drove 850,000 refugees into neighbouring countries, displaced scores of thousands more internally and inflicted untold damage on the nation’s infrastructure.

While welcoming overall progress towards restoring peace, security, and stability, today’s resolution, which maintained the current authorized strength of UNMIL’s police component at 1,795 personnel, including 10 formed police units, noted the continuing problems with violent crime and sexual and gender-based violence.

“Women and girls in Liberia continue to face a high incidence of sexual and gender-based violence,” it declared, calling on the Government to continue to combat sexual violence, particularly against children, and in coordination with UNMIL, to continue to fight impunity for perpetrators of such crimes and provide redress, support, and protection to victims.

The resolution also called on the Governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia to further enhance their cooperation over their joint border, scene of recent violence, by increased monitoring, information sharing and coordinated actions, and implementing a shared border strategy to support the disarmament and repatriation of foreign armed elements on both sides of the border and the voluntary return of refugees in safety and dignity.

Other clauses called for an ongoing battle against corruption, promotion of transparency, good governance, human rights and reconciliation, participation of women in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and security and rule of law organs that are fully and independently operational.

In a unanimously adopted resolution, the Council noted UNMISS’ priority task of protecting civilians, and urged the Mission to “deploy its assets accordingly.”

The Council welcomed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s intention that “UNMISS will geographically reconfigure its military and asset deployment so as to focus on volatile high-risk areas and associated protection requirements.”

In his recent report on South Sudan, Ban wrote that while UNMISS continues to focus on the protection of civilians as one of its core tasks, the primary responsibility for the protection of civilians in South Sudan lies with the Government.

“A peacekeeping mission, however configured, cannot replace the Government, which is also responsible for ensuring the safety and security, and freedom of movement, of United Nations personnel and assets deployed to assist it in this regard,” he stated.

Ban reiterated his condemnation of violence against UN personnel in South Sudan and recalled the requirement for the Government to hold the perpetrators of those attacks accountable, irrespective of who the perpetrators are.

He added that, in particular, those responsible in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army for the December 2012 shooting of an UNMISS helicopter – which killed all four crew members onboard – must be brought to justice immediately.

The Council today reiterated its call on the Government of South Sudan to take greater responsibility for the protection of its civilians and in this respect encourages greater cooperation with UNMISS.

It also demanded that the Government and all relevant parties cooperate fully in the deployment, operations, and monitoring, verification, and reporting functions of UNMISS, particularly by guaranteeing the safety, security and unrestricted freedom of movement of UN personnel, as well as of associated personnel throughout the country.

Among its many other provisions, the resolution expressed deep concern at the increasing violence, particularly in the Tri-States Area of Lakes, Unity and Warrap, and in Jonglei and Western Bahr el-Ghazal states, and underlined the need to address the causes of communal violence in South Sudan.

“The success of these activities will depend on key confidence building and assistance to put Mali on the path of stability,” said Bert Koenders (photo), the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Mali and head of the new UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

Briefing the Security Council by video-link from the Malian capital, Bamako, Mr. Koenders updated the 15-member body on the security situation, the mediation and national reconciliation process, the preparations for the 28 July presidential elections; and the humanitarian and human rights situations.

He also called on Member States to fully support the UN mission and contribute “critical and immediate” resources, military and police personnel, and key enablers.

The transfer of responsibility from the African-led mission, known as AFISMA, to MINUSMA is expected to take place on 1 July, when the bulk of the military units in the former will be ‘re-hatted’ and transferred to the latter.

The new mission, set up by the Council in April, is tasked with supporting the political process in Mali, which is recovering from a conflict between Government forces and Tuareg rebels that uprooted hundreds of thousands of people since January 2012.

The Council has also authorized MINUSMA “to use all necessary means” to carry out security-related stabilization tasks, protect civilians, UN staff and cultural artefacts, and create the conditions for the provision of humanitarian aid.

“There was unanimous agreement by Security Council members that we should move to the next phase of Mali’s recovery with the deployment of MINUSMA from the 1st of July, which in the initial stages, obviously will mean a re-hatting of most of the AFISMA troops,” Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant of the United Kingdom, which holds the Council’s presidency for this month, told reporters after the meeting.

In his recent report to the Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote that there remain “many challenges” to a smooth transition from AFISMA to MINUSMA. “The initial focus will be on maintaining seamless continuity between the two operations to preserve the security gains made to date and avoid creating any vacuums,” he stated.

Echoing his comments, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous told the Council that the UN is still seeking pledges for important outstanding capabilities, including helicopters, intelligence, information operations and special forces.

“We count on the continued support of both our traditional and new troop-contributing countries to help us fill these critical shortfalls,” said Mr. Ladsous, who added that the UN is deploying a mission in a new geopolitical context with asymmetric threats not previously encountered in a UN peacekeeping environment.

Among the “unique challenges” facing the mission, he cited the harsh climate, state of infrastructure and vastness of the geographic area of responsibility.

Briefing the Council on the ongoing efforts to set up the mission, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Ameerah Haq said that despite “formidable” constraints, the UN is on track to meet requirements for the MINUSMA’s deployment.

Yet, she acknowledged that MINUSMA is “one of the most logistically challenging missions the United Nations has ever launched.” Among others, she drew attention to the “harsh” climatic conditions in northern Mali, where most of the mission’s operations will be located. The temperature in Timbuktu, for example, regularly reaches 48 degrees Celsius, or 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

“All information and communications technology, vehicles, refrigeration, and tentage that is ultimately used in Mali will be exposed to climatic conditions that accelerate their decay,” she explained.

“We already know that certain technological options are out of the question: for example, we are unable to deploy our mobile communications system to Kidal because its sensitive components will melt.”

Ms. Haq also noted that water availability is limited, particularly in the arid north; the airfields in the north are unable to service large aircraft; road infrastructure in the north is “spotty;” and there are still armed groups who have sworn to oppose – and attack – the UN.

“In Mali, neither the challenges nor the risks at hand should be underestimated. Much is beyond our control,” she stated. “But our efforts to date, and the results achieved by MINUSMA thus far suggest that, with commitment, vision and the continued support of Member States, we just may be able to beat the odds.”

In his meeting with Mali’s Foreign Minister, Tiéman Coulibaly, Mr. Ban encouraged the authorities to continue efforts to ensure a favourable political environment for the conduct of the 28 July polls, and pledged UN support for the national dialogue process that will take place following the elections.

“The focus two weeks ago was on Damascus. The focus is now on Aleppo, where there has been a considerable build-up of military means, and where we have reason to believe that the main battle is about to start,” the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Herve Ladsous, said. He added that the fighting continues in various locations, including the capital, Damascus.

Ladsous was addressing reporters after having briefed the Security Council on the situation on the ground in the Middle Eastern country, as called for in resolution 2059, which the Council adopted in late July.

The resolution extended the mandate of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) for another 30 days, and requested a report back to the 15-nation body on the text’s implementation within 15 days.

The resolution also indicated that further renewals to UNSMIS’ mandate would be possible only if it can be confirmed that the use of heavy weapons has ceased and a reduction in violence by all sides was sufficient to allow the Mission it to implement its mandate. With the 30-day extension, UNSMIS’ mandate is set to expire on 19 August.

“We have another 17 days to see whether something happens that will change the situation as was outlined by the resolution 2059,” Ladsous said.

“Beyond that, of course it will be for the Security Council to decide, but clearly – and I said so to the Council – the Secretary-General’s view is that the United Nations will have to somehow remain in Syria,” he added. “And this is what he is consulting about, in order to make a proposal to the Security Council in due course.”

Established in April, UNSMIS had suspended its regular patrols in mid-June due to the escalating violence, in which over 15,000 people, mostly civilians, have reportedly been killed and tens of thousands displaced since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began some 17 months ago. Over recent days, there have been reports of a build-up of forces and an escalation in violence in many towns and villages, as well as Aleppo and Damascus.

Half of the 300 of observers serving with UNSMIS were temporarily sent home in late July, in view of the constraints they faced, particularly in terms of security.

Despite the current limitations on their work, Ladsous said, the remaining observers continue to try to carry out their mandated tasks, within the framework of resolution 2059. Their tasks include monitoring the cessation of violence in Syria, as well as monitoring and supporting the full implementation of the six-point peace plan put forward by the Joint Special Envoy for the UN and the League of Arab States for the Syrian Crisis, Kofi Annan, who today announced his intention not to renew his mandate when it expires at the end of August.

“They [the observers] continue to try their best to monitor, to observe, to report. They did more than 50 patrols over the last two weeks, including some long-range patrols where they stayed overnight in places,” Ladsous said. “So they report, they inform us. And they try – wherever it’s possible – to mediate, to arrange local ceasefires, humanitarian pauses to allow civilian populations to withdraw from shelling areas.”

Earlier this week, UNSMIS observers reported an upsurge in the violence in the city of Aleppo, with helicopters, tanks and artillery being used.

“We know for a fact that the opposition does have heavy weapons – that we have seen. We have not yet seen the opposition using… those heavy weapons against Government forces. But we know that they have tanks, that they have armoured personnel carriers, etcetera – that’s a fact,” Mr. Ladsous said.

On Monday, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it had received reports of around 200,000 people fleeing the fighting in Aleppo, with many of those people displaced within other parts of Syria, which has made humanitarian access to them difficult.