UN Security Council to hold special session on recent developments in Iraq

The United Nations Security Council will hold a special session on Tuesday to discuss the recent developments in Iraq amid ongoing nationwide protests.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The United Nations Security Council will hold a special session on Tuesday to discuss the recent developments in Iraq amid ongoing nationwide protests.

The session will be held at 10 a.m. local time at the UN headquarters in New York. Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, is expected to brief the assembly.

“Special Representative Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert will brief on developments in Iraq and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI),” a UN statement read.

Iraq has been engulfed in anti-government protests for nearly two months, with hundreds of protesters killed by security forces.

The developments have forced Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi to hand in his resignation. Indeed, in a special session held on Sunday in Baghdad, the Iraqi parliament voted to accept Abdul Mahdi’s resignation.

Read More: Iraqi parliament votes to formally accept prime minister's resignation

The protests in Iraq reflect widespread dissatisfaction with the economy, a call for more jobs, the dismal state of public services, and widespread government corruption.

Since they began in early October, widespread protests have resulted in the deaths of nearly 400, while some 16,000 have been injured, according to Iraq’s High Commission for Human Rights.

The UN, as well as Amnesty International, have called for an end to the bloodshed and urged security forces to show restraint against protestors.

Demonstrators in Iraq are calling for radical change in Iraq’s political system, which they say fails to address their needs, but, rather, serves the interests of a small governing elite.