United Nations Security Council Resolution 1994

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1994, adopted unanimously on 30 June 2011, after considering a report by the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon regarding the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), the Council extended its mandate for a further six months until 31 December 2011.

UNDOF was established in 1974 by Resolution 350 (1974) to monitor the ceasefire between Israel and Syria.

Adoption
During discussions, some Council members&mdash;such as France, Germany, the United Kingdom and United States&mdash;expressed concern that recent violence along Israel's border with Syria had been instigated by the Syrian government in an attempt to divert attention away from a domestic uprising as part of the Arab Spring; however, Russia and China said the issues should not be interlinked, nor were on the Council's agenda.

Details
The Security Council called for the implementation of Resolution 338 (1973) which demanded negotiations take place between the parties for a peaceful settlement of the situation in the Middle East. It called for all parties to respect the 1974 ceasefire agreement, which had been placed in "jeopardy" due to recent violence. Meanwhile, Council members welcomed UNDOF's efforts to implement the Secretary-General's zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse.

Finally, the Secretary-General was requested to report before the end of UNDOF's mandate on measures to implement Resolution 338 and developments in the situation. The report of the Secretary-General pursuant to the previous resolution on UNDOF indicated that the situation in the Middle East continued to remain tense until a settlement could be reached, with the Secretary-General encouraging peace talks to resume which were broke off in December 2008.