Security Council resolution 2537 (2020) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) until 31 Jan. 2021]
Symbol: S/RES/2537 (2020)
Date: 2020-07-28
Status: adopted
Agenda: S/75 [43] UN PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN CYPRUS
S/75 [42] CYPRUS QUESTION
S/ X The situation in Cyprus.
Subjects: UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus|PEACEBUILDING|CONFIDENCE-BUILDING MEASURES|PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS|GOOD OFFICES|CYPRUS|CYPRUS QUESTION
Votes in favour: 15
Votes against: 0
Abstentions: 0
Voting record:
country: BELGIUM
vote: yes
country: CHINA
vote: yes
country: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
vote: yes
country: ESTONIA
vote: yes
country: FRANCE
vote: yes
country: GERMANY
vote: yes
country: INDONESIA
vote: yes
country: NIGER
vote: yes
country: RUSSIAN FEDERATION
vote: yes
country: SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
vote: yes
country: SOUTH AFRICA
vote: yes
country: TUNISIA
vote: yes
country: UNITED KINGDOM
vote: yes
country: UNITED STATES
vote: yes
country: VIET NAM
vote: yes

           United Nations                                                                      S/RES/2537 (2020)
           Security Council                                                  Distr.: General
                                                                             28 July 2020




           Resolution 2537 (2020)
           Adopted by the Security Council at its 8751st meeting, on
           28 July 2020

                The Security Council,
                 Welcoming the report of the Secretary-General of 10 July 2020 on his Good
           Offices (S/2020/685) and on the United Nations operation in Cyprus ( S/2020/682),
           and expressing its full support for his Good Offices to remain available to assist the
           sides, should they jointly decide to re-engage in negotiations with the necessary
           political will,
                 Underscoring that the responsibility for finding a solution lies first and foremost
           with the Cypriots themselves, and reaffirming the primary role of the United Nations
           in assisting the parties to bring the Cyprus conflict and division of the island to a
           comprehensive and durable settlement with a sense of urgency,
                 Urging the sides to renew their efforts to achieve an enduring, comprehensive
           and just settlement based on a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality,
           as set out in relevant Security Council resolutions, including OP4 of its resolution 716
           (1991), and stressing that the status quo is unsustainable,
                 Expressing deep concern at the further escalation and increased tensions in the
           eastern Mediterranean over hydrocarbons exploration, convinced of the many
           important benefits, including economic benefits, for all Cypriots that would flow from
           a comprehensive and durable settlement, and reiterating the Secretary-General’s call
           for serious efforts to avoid any further escalation and to defuse tensions,
                  Recalling its resolution 1325 (2000) and related resolutions, recognising that the
           full, effective and meaningful participation and leadership of women is essential in
           building peace in Cyprus and will contribute to making any future settlement
           sustainable, welcoming efforts to bring together a broader range of women actors on
           both sides, encouraging the sides to ensure the unique concerns of women are
           addressed in a future settlement, and looking forward to the outcome of the gendersensitive socio-economic impact assessment requested in its resolution 2453 (2019),
                 Recalling its resolution 2250 (2015) that recognises the important and positive
           contribution of youth in efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and
           security, and as a key aspect of the sustainability, inclusiveness and success of
           peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts, and further encourages the full, effective and
           meaningful participation of youth in this process,

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                      Recognising that effective contact and communication between the sides
                 enhances the prospects for settlement and is in the interests of all Cypriots, and helps
                 to address island-wide matters, including environmental protection and crime,
                       Recognising the impact on the island of Cyprus of the COVID-19 pandemic and the
                 efforts made by both communities to suppress the spread of the virus and mitigate its effects,
                       Further recognising that the COVID-19 pandemic has restricted opportunities and
                 capacity for negotiation, and expressing concern that the uncoordinated decisions to close
                 the crossing points along the Green line in response to the pandemic have prevented most
                 bi-communal engagement, and that the prolonged closure of the crossing points threatens to
                 set back the progress made in this area since 2003,
                       Expressing concern at the continued deterioration of the law and order situation
                 in Pyla, and urging both sides to continue to work with UNFICYP to establish
                 effective measures to tackle criminal activities,
                       Emphasising the importance of confidence-building measures and their timely
                 implementation, and urging the sides to step up their efforts to promote
                 intercommunal contacts, reconciliation and the active engagement of civil society, in
                 particular women and youth,
                      Noting that the Government of Cyprus is agreed that in view of the prevailing
                 conditions on the island it is necessary to keep the United Nations Peacekeeping Force
                 in Cyprus (UNFICYP) beyond 31 July 2020,
                       Welcoming measures to date to strengthen the liaison and engagement capacity
                 of the mission, noting the importance of transition planning in relation to the
                 settlement, and emphasising the need to review regularly all peacekeeping operations,
                 including UNFICYP, to ensure efficiency and effectiveness,
                      Echoing the Secretary-General’s gratitude to the Government of Cyprus and the
                 Government of Greece for their voluntary contributions to the funding of UNFICYP,
                 and expressing appreciation to Member States that contribute personnel to UNFICYP,
                      Noting with appreciation the efforts of the Secretary-General, his Special
                 Representative Elizabeth Spehar, and senior United Nations official Jane Holl Lute,
                      1.    Welcomes the trilateral meeting of the leaders and the Secretary-General
                 on 25 November 2019 in Berlin, at which both sides reaffirmed their commitment to
                 a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, as set out in relevant
                 Security Council resolutions, including OP4 of its resolution 716 (1991), the Joint
                 Declaration of 11 February 2014, the prior convergences, and the six point framework
                 presented by the Secretary-General on 30 June 2017 at the Conference of Cyprus;
                       2.   Further welcomes the Secretary-General’s agreement to extend his efforts
                 to achieve terms of reference to serve as a consensus starting point for phased,
                 meaningful, and results-oriented negotiations at the earliest feasible opportunity, and
                 urges the sides and all involved participants to renew their political will and
                 commitment to a settlement under United Nations auspices, including by engaging
                 actively and with a sense of urgency with the Secretary-General and senior United
                 Nations official, Jane Holl Lute;
                       3.    Reiterates its call for a reduction of tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean,
                 and further calls upon the leaders of the two Cypriot communities and all involved
                 parties to refrain from any actions and rhetoric that might damage chances of success;


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                4.   Reaffirms all its relevant resolutions on Cyprus, in particular resolution
           1251 (1999);
                 5.    Recalls its resolution 2506 (2020) and calls upon the two leaders urgently
           to:
                (a) put their efforts expeditiously behind further work on reaching
           convergences on the core issues;
                (b) reaffirm their political support for all Technical Committees, empower
           them to submit proposals for their consideration to enhance intercommunal contacts
           and improve the daily lives of all Cypriots, and consider the advice of the Good
           Offices Mission of the Secretary-General regarding further ways to empower the
           Technical Committees and improve their performance;
                 (c) ensure effective coordination and cooperation on health matters, including
           in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other infectious diseases which have
           island-wide implications, including through the effective use of the expertise
           available in the bi-communal Technical Committees on Health, Crisis Management,
           Humanitarian Affairs and Economic Matters;
                 (d)   ensure effective coordination and cooperation on criminal matters;
                 (e) promote peace education across the island, including by further
           empowering the Technical Committee on Education to implement the
           recommendations contained in its joint report of 2017, in particular t hose concerning
           policy-making, and to address impediments to peace in school materials, including
           text books, as a contribution to trust-building between the communities, on which
           there continues to be little progress;
                (f) improve the public atmosphere for negotiation to secure a settlement,
           including by preparing the communities for a settlement through public messages on
           convergences and the way ahead, and delivering more constructive and harmonised
           messages, and by refraining from actions or rhetoric that detracts from a successful
           process or could make it more difficult to achieve, recalling the Secretary -General’s
           statement of 25 November 2019 in this regard;
                 (g) increase their support to, and ensure a meaningful role for, civil society
           engagement in peace efforts, in particular strengthening the participation of women’s
           organisations and youth in the process, including by empowering the Technical
           Committee on Gender Equality to meet and develop an action plan supporting
           women’s full, effective and meaningful participation in peace talks and providing
           direct support and encouragement to civil society organisations to enhance
           inter-communal contact and trust-building;
                6.   Calls for the establishment of an effective mechanism for direct military
           contacts between the sides and the relevant involved parties, encourages full
           engagement with the proposal on the establishment of such a mechanism presented
           by UNFICYP, and calls for its timely implementation;
                 7.    Calls upon the sides to reduce existing barriers to intercommunal contact,
           and emphasizes the importance of effective communication for risk -mitigation and
           trust-building between the communities;
                8.    Further calls for the reopening of all the crossing points and the return to
           the operating status that existed prior to 29 February 2020 as soon as practically


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                 achievable, and for any continuing restrictions on movement across the island to
                 prevent the spread of COVID-19 to be coordinated, and not go beyond what is
                 necessary to protect public health; and noting that the opening of the crossings since
                 2003 has been an important confidence-building measure between both communities
                 and one which is essential for the settlement process;
                       9.    Welcomes the progress towards the inter-operability of mobile phones
                 across the island, and calls for further work to ensure the arrangement is made more
                 broadly available and affordable to subscribers on both sides of the island, and urges
                 the sides to agree and implement further confidence building measures, includ ing
                 those related to the military, economic cooperation and trade;
                       10. Commends the work of the Committee on Missing Persons, and calls upon
                 all parties expeditiously to enhance their cooperation with the Committee’s work, in
                 particular through providing full access to all areas and responding in a timely manner
                 to requests for archival information on possible burial sites;
                       11. Expresses its full support for UNFICYP, and decides to extend its mandate
                 for a further period ending on 31January 2021;
                       12. Expresses serious concern at the increased number and severity of
                 violations of the military status quo along the ceasefire lines, urges the sides and all
                 involved parties to respect UNFICYP’s mandated authority in, and delineation of, the
                 buffer zone, urges the use of the 2018 United Nations aide-memoire by the sides to
                 ensure peace and security in the buffer zone, and calls on both sides to prevent
                 unauthorised activities between the ceasefire lines;
                      13. Calls on the Turkish Cypriot side and Turkish forces to restore in Strovilia
                 the military status quo which existed there prior to 30 June 2000, recalls the status of
                 Varosha as set out in relevant resolutions, including resolutions 550 (1984) and 789
                 (1992), and reaffirms that UNFICYP’s freedom of movement should be respected;
                       14. Welcomes the announcement that 18 suspected hazardous areas across the
                 island have now been cleared of mines, and urges the leaders of both communities to
                 agree and continue a plan of work to achieve a mine-free Cyprus;
                      15. Requests UNFICYP to take fully into account gender considerations as a
                 cross-cutting issue throughout its mandate; requests the Secretary-General and troopand police-contributing countries to increase the number of women in UNFICYP and
                 ensure the full, effective and meaningful participation of women in all aspects of its
                 operations;
                       16. Welcomes the initiatives undertaken by the Secretary-General to
                 standardise a culture of performance in UN peacekeeping, recalls its requests in its
                 resolutions 2378 (2017) and 2436 (2018) that the Secretary-General ensure that
                 performance data related to the effectiveness of peacekeeping operations is used to
                 improve mission operations, including decisions such as those regarding deployment,
                 remediation, repatriation and incentives, reaffirms its 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 facil itates 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 ,



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           calls on the United Nations to apply this framework to UNFICYP as described in its
           resolution 2436 (2018), and notes the efforts of the Secretary-General to develop a
           comprehensive performance assessment system;
                 17. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to take necessary measures to
           ensure full compliance of all UNFICYP personnel, civilian and uniformed, including
           mission leadership and mission support personnel, with the United Nations zero -
           tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to keep the Council fully
           informed about the Mission’s progress in this regard, stresses the need to prevent such
           exploitation and abuse and to improve how these allegations are addressed in line
           with its resolution 2272 (2016), and urges troop- and police-contributing countries to
           continue to take appropriate preventative action, including vetting of all personnel,
           pre-deployment and in-mission awareness training, and to take appropriate steps to
           ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving their personnel,
           including through timely investigations of allegations by troop - and policecontributing countries, and UNFICYP as appropriate, holding perpetrators to account,
           and repatriating units when there is credible evidence of widespread or systemic
           sexual exploitation and abuse by those units;
                 18. Requests the Secretary-General to submit by 10 January 2021 a report on
           his Good Offices, in particular on progress towards reaching a consensus starting -
           point for meaningful results-oriented negotiations leading to a settlement, encourages
           the leaders of the two communities to provide written updates to the Good Offices
           Mission of the Secretary-General on the actions they have taken in support of the
           relevant parts of this resolution since its adoption, in particular with regard to
           paragraphs 5 and 6 and 8, with a view to reaching a sustainable and comprehensive
           settlement, and further requests the Secretary-General to include the contents of these
           updates in his Good Offices report; further requests the Secretary-General to submit
           by 10 January 2021 a report on implementation of this resolution, and to keep the
           Security Council updated on events as necessary;
                19.   Decides to remain seized of the matter.




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