After criticism, a snippet of UN Security Council meet made public

The UN Security Council made its now video-conference-only meetings public on Tuesday for the first time in nearly a month, after criticism of what was called a lack of transparency during the coronavirus pandemic. The part of the meeting made public online was short -- just 10 minutes -- and addressed events in Mali, where the government is fighting a jihadist insurgency.

This was made possible by the Dominican Republic, which is president of the 15-member council for the month of April. In March the post was held by China, where the coronavirus pandemic first started. Part of a Security Council meeting on March 12 was accessible online, but that was the only time it happened that month.

This drew criticism from 25 countries from around the world that call themselves the ACT Group. The letters stand for accountability, coherence and transparency. The grouping is led by Switzerland. "The ACT Group is concerned that the meetings of the Council that have taken place since the crisis made physical meetings in the Council's chamber impossible have not been included in the programme of work, officially announced or webcast," Swiss UN ambassador Jurg Lauber said in a letter sent March 31 to the UN Security Council.

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