United Nations Security Council resolution 1233, adopted unanimously on 6 April 1999, after reaffirming Resolution 1216 (1998) on the situation in

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

, the council established the

United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in Guinea-Bissau The United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS) was established by the United Nations Security Council in its Resolution 1233 in April 1999 to facilitate the general election and implementation of the Abuja Accord. Thi ...

(UNOGBIS) to facilitate the implementation of the Abuja Accord. In the preamble of the Resolution 1223, the security council continued to express concern over the humanitarian situation in Guinea-Bissau. It noted declarations by the

President of Guinea-Bissau This article lists the presidents of Guinea-Bissau, since the establishment of the office of president in 1973. List of officeholders ;Political parties ;Other factions ;Symbols Notes Timeline Latest election See also * Pol ...

João Bernardo Vieira João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira (; 27 April 1939 – 2 March 2009) was a Bissau-Guinean politician who was the President of Guinea-Bissau from 1980 to 1999, except for a three-day period in May 1984, and from 2005 to 2009. After seizing power ...

and the leader of the self-proclaimed

military junta A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...

of never again resorting to the use of

weapon A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

s and welcomed the swearing-in of a new

Government of National Unity A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nati ...

. The council noted that there serious obstacles remaining, partly due to the failure of civil servants and other officials to return to Guinea-Bissau from other countries. It welcomed the deployment of troops from the

Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group The Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) was a West African multilateral armed force established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ECOMOG was a formal arrangement for separate armies to work ...

(ECOMOG) and reiterated the need to conduct general and presidential elections as soon as possible in accordance with the Abuja Agreement. The parties were commended for the steps they had taken so far in the peace process and were asked to take measures for a smooth functioning of the government and the return of

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s. They were called upon to promptly agree on the date for the holding of free, fair and inclusive

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

. Supporting a decision of the Secretary-General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founde ...

, the Council authorised the establishment of UNOGBIS to co-ordinate United Nations activities in Guinea-Bissau during the transitional period leading up to general and presidential elections in addition to the implementation of the Abuja Accord, in co-operation with the ECOMOG, the

Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of , and in ...

(ECOWAS) and international organisations. The resolution reiterated the requirement for the

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such a ...

and encampment of ex-belligerent troops and welcomed the progress made by ECOMOG in this regard; the

demining Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By cont ...

of areas to facilitate the return of refugees was also a necessity. The council urged all parties to respect

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

, particularly with regards to operations by United Nations and humanitarian personnel. It welcomed a

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

-sponsored conference that was to be held in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

on 4–5 May 1999 to mobilise assistance for Guinea-Bissau. Finally, the secretary-general was required to submit a report to the council by 30 June 1999 and every 90 days thereafter on developments relating to Guinea-Bissau, the Abuja Accord, UNOGBIS and ECOMOG.

References

External links

*
Text of the Resolution at undocs.org
* {{UNSCR 1999 1233 1999 in Guinea-Bissau 1233 April 1999 events