Security Council Resolution 2239 (2015) [on Extension of the Mandate of the Un Mission in Liberia (Unmil) Until 30 Sept. 2016]

S/RES/2239 (2015)View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Security Council, under agenda item 89 The situation in Liberia, published in 2015.

What other versions does this mandate have?

5 versions · 2011–2015

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2015	S/RES/2239 (2015)	Security Council resolution 2239 (2015) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) until 30 Sept. 2016]	—	—
2014	S/RES/2190 (2014)	Security Council resolution 2190 (2014) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) until 30 Sept. 2015]	—	—
2013	S/RES/2116 (2013)	Security Council resolution 2116 (2013) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) until 30 Sept. 2014]	—	—
2012	S/RES/2066 (2012)	Security Council resolution 2066 (2012) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) until 30 Sept. 2013]	—	—
2011	S/RES/2008(2011)	Security Council resolution 2008 (2011) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) until 30 Sept. 2012]	1,604	–

What’s in this document?

35 operative paragraphs

Governance, Rule of Law, Security Sector Reform and National Reconciliation

Emphasizes that the Government of Liberia bears primary and ultimate responsibility for security and the protection of its population and urges the Government to prioritize the effective and rapid development of the security agencies, especially the LNP, which is the priority law enforcement agency tasked with civilian policing responsibilities, including through the timely provision of sufficient financial resources and other support, adequate training and development of senior management;

Encourages the Government of Liberia to prioritize national reconciliation and economic recovery, to combat corruption and to promote efficiency and good governance, in particular by continuing to strengthen transparency and accountability, including by managing effectively Liberia’s natural resources, emphasizes the importance of pursuing a national reconciliation and social cohesion strategy through concrete measures to promote national healing, justice and reconciliation at all levels and involving all Liberian stakeholders and recognizes the efforts of the Government of Liberia to support enhancing the participation of women in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding, including in decision-making roles in post-conflict governance institutions and the broad range of reform efforts;

Emphasizes the need for continued progress by the Liberian authorities on constitutional and institutional reforms, especially of the rule of law and security sectors, and the national reconciliation processes, particularly in light of the impact of the Ebola outbreak on communities and the need to intensify the longer-term recovery of Liberia and, in this regard, requests the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to continue to assist such efforts through the use of good offices and political support;

Urges the Government of Liberia to intensify its efforts towards achieving progress on the transition of security responsibilities from UNMIL to the national authorities, particularly with regard to prioritizing and resourcing the critical gaps to facilitate a successful transition, improving the capacity and capability of the LNP and BIN, as well as the justice sector, including courts and prisons, enabling the promotion of human rights and reconciliation, effective oversight, professionalism, transparency and accountability across all security institutions and strengthening democratic institutions and extension of state authority and services throughout the country for the benefit of all Liberians;

Affirms its expectation that the Government of Liberia will assume fully its complete security responsibilities from UNMIL no later than 30 June 2016 and encourages Member States and multilateral organizations to continue to provide financial, technical and other assistance to the Government of Liberia in this regard, including for the long-term support necessary for professionalizing and sustaining Liberia’s security institutions and infrastructure;

Calls on the Government of Liberia to accelerate its efforts to enhance the capacity of its security sector in coordination with the continued reconfiguration of UNMIL, especially the leadership, coordination, monitoring and resources, oversight mechanisms, early passage of the draft Police and BIN Acts and further reform of the promotion and manpower policies, with a view to decentralizing the national security institutions, particularly the LNP, to provide security for all people throughout Liberia and urges the Government of Liberia to accelerate efforts to implement measures on the proper management of arms and ammunition, including enacting the appropriate domestic laws, the effective monitoring and management of Liberia’s border regions and the registering and tracking of arms and material used and imported by its security forces;

Underscores the importance of the Government of Liberia continuing to develop national security and rule of law institutions that are fully and independently operational, and to this end, encourages accelerated coordinated progress on the implementation of the Security and Justice Development Plans and the National Human Rights Action Plan and urges the effective, transparent and efficient management by the Government of Liberia of assistance, including from bilateral and multilateral partners, to support the reform of the justice and security sectors;

Expresses its continued concern that women and girls in Liberia continue to face a high incidence of sexual and gender-based violence, reiterates its call on the Government of Liberia to continue to combat sexual violence, particularly against children, and gender-based violence and to combat impunity for perpetrators of such crimes and to provide redress, support and protection to victims, including through public information campaigns and by continuing to strengthen national police capacity in this area and to raise awareness of existing national legislation on sexual violence and encourages the Government to reinforce its commitment in this regard, including by funding the implementation of its national action plan on sexual and gender-based violence and improving women and girls’ access to justice;

UNMIL mandate

Decides to extend the mandate of UNMIL until 30 September 2016;

Decides that the mandate of UNMIL shall be the following:

Protection of Civilians

To protect, without prejudice to the primary responsibility of the Liberian authorities, the civilian population from threat of physical violence, within its capabilities and areas of deployment;

Reform of Justice and Security Institutions

To assist the Government of Liberia in implementing and in close coordination with bilateral and multilateral partners, as appropriate, its national strategy on Security Sector Reform (SSR);

To advise the Government of Liberia on SSR and the organization of the LNP and BIN, as well as on the justice and corrections sector, with a particular focus on developing their leadership, internal management and accountability mechanisms;

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To assist the Government of Liberia to coordinate these efforts with all partners, including bilateral and multilateral donors;

Human Rights Promotion and Protection

To carry out promotion, protection and monitoring activities of human rights in Liberia, with special attention to violations and abuses committed against children and women;

To support the strengthening of efforts by the Government of Liberia to combat sexual- and gender-based violence, including its efforts to combat impunity for perpetrators of such crimes;

Protection of United Nations personnel

To protect the United Nations personnel, installations and equipment and ensure the security and freedom of movement of United Nations and associated personnel;

Decides that UNMIL, in accordance with paragraphs 4, 5, 6 and 10 (b) above, shall put renewed focus on supporting the Government of Liberia to achieve a successful transition of complete security responsibility to the Liberian authorities by strengthening the capacity of the relevant security agencies to manage existing personnel and to improve training programs to expedite their readiness to assume security responsibilities throughout Liberia and requests UNMIL to continue to communicate, including through UNMIL Radio, with the people and Government of Liberia to raise awareness and understanding about its mandate and activities in line with the security transition;

Requests UNMIL to ensure that any support provided to non-United Nations security forces is provided in strict compliance with the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy on United Nations Support to non-United Nations Security Forces (S/2013/110);

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that UNMIL has the requisite qualified specialist advisers with the professional skills and experience appropriate to this transition phase in order to enhance mentoring with the aim of increasing the capacity of the Government, particularly the LNP and BIN, to accelerate the implementation of sustainable rule of law, justice, governance and SSR programs, including mechanisms to hold perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence accountable;

Encourages UNMIL, within its capabilities and areas of deployment and without prejudice to its mandate, to continue to assist the Government of Liberia, the Committee established pursuant to paragraph 21 of resolution 1521 (2003) and the Panel of Experts to carry out its tasks, in this regard, as set forth in previous resolutions, including its resolution 2237 (2015);

Force structure

Decides to decrease UNMIL’s authorized military strength from 3,590 to 1,240 military personnel, which includes one infantry battalion and related enablers, by 30 June 2016 and to decrease UNMIL’s authorized police strength from 1,515 to 606 police personnel, which includes three formed police units, as well as immigration and police advisers, by 30 June 2016;

Requests UNMIL, from 1 July 2016, to support the Liberian security agencies to protect civilians in the event of a deterioration of the security situation that could risk a strategic reversal of peace and stability in the country, taking into account UNMIL’s reduced capabilities and areas of deployment;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to streamline the activities of UNMIL across its civilian, police and military components and narrowing of the mandate decided in this resolution and further requests the Secretary-General to accelerate efforts to achieve the consolidation of the civilian, police and military presence of UNMIL in line with the security transition;

Affirms its intention, based on the Security Council’s review by 15 December 2016 of Liberia’s overall capacity to ensure security and stability after the conclusion of the security transition on 30 June 2016 and security conditions on the ground, to consider the possible withdrawal of UNMIL and transition to a future United Nations presence to continue to assist the Government of Liberia to consolidate peace and, in this regard, requests the Secretary-General to conduct an assessment mission to Liberia in order to provide recommendations to the Security Council by 15 November 2016;

Regional and inter-mission cooperation

Recognizes the importance of resuming fully and also enhancing the joint activities between the Governments of Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire as UNMIL and the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) downsize, calls on the Governments of Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire to continue reinforcing their cooperation, particularly with respect to the border area, including through increased monitoring, information sharing, and coordinated actions, and in implementing the shared border strategy to, inter alia, support the disarmament and repatriation of armed elements on both sides of the border and the voluntary return of refugees in safety and dignity, as well as to address the root causes of conflict and tension, and in this regard, calls upon all United Nations entities in Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia, including all relevant components of UNOCI and UNMIL, within their respective mandates, capabilities and areas of deployment, as well as the two United Nations Country Teams, where relevant and appropriate, to intensify support to the Ivorian and Liberian authorities;

Affirms the importance of inter-mission cooperation arrangements as UNMIL and UNOCI downsize, reaffirms the inter-mission cooperation framework set out in its resolution 1609 (2005), recalls its endorsement in its resolution 2062 (2012) of the recommendation of the Secretary-General to transfer three armed helicopters from UNMIL to UNOCI to be used in both Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia along and across their border and also recalls its decision in its resolution 2162 (2014) that all UNOCI and UNMIL military utility helicopters shall be utilized in both Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia in order to facilitate rapid response and mobility, while not affecting the area of responsibility of either mission;

Welcomes the full operationalization of the quick reaction force established by its resolution 2162 (2014) to implement UNOCI’s mandate as defined in paragraph 19 of its resolution 2226 (2015) and to support UNMIL as defined in paragraph 33 of its resolution 2226 (2015) while recognizing that this unit will remain primarily a UNOCI asset;

Recalls its authorization, pursuant to its resolutions 2162 (2014) and 2226 (2015), to the Secretary-General to deploy this unit to Liberia, subject to the consent of the troop contributing countries concerned and the Government of Liberia, in the event of a serious deterioration of the security situation on the ground in order to temporarily reinforce UNMIL with the sole purpose of implementing its mandate and further recalls its requests to the Secretary-General to inform the Security Council immediately of any deployment of this unit to Liberia and to obtain Security Council authorization for any such deployment for a period that exceeds 90 days;

Reports of the Secretary-General

Requests the Secretary-General to keep it regularly informed of the situation in Liberia and the implementation of the mandate of UNMIL and to provide to it a midterm report no later than 28 February 2016 and a final report no later than 15 August 2016 on the situation on the ground and implementation of this resolution;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.