Security Council Resolution 2815 (2026) [on Extension of the Mandate of the Un Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (Unficyp) Until 31 Jan. 2027]

S/RES/2815(2026)View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A document of the Security Council, under agenda item 43The situation in Cyprus, published in 2026.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

2 entities

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What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Confidence-Building Measures Cyprus Cyprus Question Good Offices Peacebuilding Peacekeeping Operations Varosha (Cyprus)

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2026.

2026S/2026/550United Nations operation in Cyprus report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

36 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms all its relevant resolutions on Cyprus, in particular resolution 1251 (1999), and recalls the importance of achieving an enduring, comprehensive and just settlement based on a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, as set out in relevant Security Council resolutions, including paragraph 4 of its resolution 716 (1991);

Strongly calls upon the sides and all parties to deploy all efforts to engage actively with the Secretary-General and his team;

Fully supports the Secretary-General’s ongoing engagement with the sides and welcomes the intensification of dialogue, notably the Secretary-General’s informal broader-format meetings on 18 March and on 17 July 2025, the trilateral meeting on 27 September 2025 in New York, and the meetings of the two leaders on 20 November and 11 December 2025 under United Nations auspices, welcomes the agreement to a group of initiatives to build trust and confidence reached at the broader-format meetings on 18 March and 17 July and the implementation of some of these, encourages further progress in this regard, encourages the continued use of informal-broader format meetings as agreed, and emphasises the importance of the sides and all involved participants approaching this process in the spirit of openness, flexibility and compromise and showing the necessary political will and commitment to freely negotiate a mutually acceptable settlement under United Nations auspices;

Recalls the status of Varosha as set out in relevant resolutions, including resolutions 550 (1984) and 789 (1992), and its Presidential Statement (S/PRST/2021/13) which condemns the 20 July 2021 announcement by Turkish and Turkish Cypriot leaders on the further reopening of a part of the fenced-off area of Varosha, expresses deep regret regarding the continuation of unilateral actions that run contrary to its previous resolutions and statements on Varosha, calls for the immediate reversal of this course of action and of all steps taken on Varosha since October 2020, deeply regrets the ongoing disregard of this call for immediate reversal, cautions against any further actions in relation to Varosha that are not in accordance with its resolutions, emphasises that any further unilateral action may prompt a response from the Security Council and continues to stress the need to avoid any unilateral actions that could raise tensions on the island and undermine the prospects for a peaceful settlement;

Emphasises that the Council continues to follow developments in Pyla/Pile since August 2023 closely, underscores the need to avoid any unilateral actions by either party that could raise tensions on the island and harm prospects for a settlement, encourages further efforts to promote a conducive climate with the goal of returning to formal negotiations for a lasting settlement in Cyprus, welcomes the Special Representative of the Secretary-General’s engagement with all parties to reach an understanding regarding arrangements for the Pyla/Pile plateau as outlined in paragraph 11 of the Secretary-General’s report (S/2024/12), regrets that implementation remains paused, and urges all parties concerned to work constructively with UNFICYP on a way forward as an important confidence building measure;

Welcomes the promotion of peaceful neighbourly relations in the Eastern Mediterranean, reiterates that disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean should be resolved peacefully in accordance with applicable international law, remains convinced of the many important benefits, including economic benefits, for all Cypriots and the wider region that would flow from a comprehensive and durable settlement, reiterates also the Secretary-General’s previous call to avoid escalatory steps, and further urges the leaders of the two Cypriot communities and all involved parties to refrain from any actions and rhetoric that might damage the settlement process and that could raise tensions on the island;

Recalls its resolution 2771 (2025) and calls upon the two leaders urgently to:

continue their efforts to provide the necessary support and overall guidance to the work of the Technical Committees, ensuring they are free from political obstructions and able to function effectively in coordination and cooperation on matters which have island-wide implications, including taking forward the trust-building initiatives agreed in 2025 which have been assigned to them and overcoming recent political blockages that have slowed or obstructed progress, including through the effective use of the expertise available in the bicommunal Technical Committees on Health, Criminal Matters, Crisis Management, Humanitarian Affairs and Economic Matters, and to 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, improve their performance and protect and insulate them from wider political discussions;

ensure effective coordination and cooperation on criminal matters;

strengthen efforts to promote peace education across the island, including by reinvigorating the Technical Committee on Education and empowering it to implement the recommendations contained in its joint report of 2017, in particular those concerning policy-making, and to address impediments to peace by conducting a joint review of school materials, including text books, as a contribution to trust-building between the communities, on which there continues to be no progress, and by supporting peace education projects aimed at increasing contact and collaboration among the communities in Cyprus and facilitating the meaningful participation of youth in the peace process, noting with concern that the Technical Committee on Education did not meet during the reporting period and that no cross-community cooperation on student engagement or review of textbooks took place;

improve the public atmosphere for negotiation to secure a settlement, including by preparing the communities for a settlement through public messages on the way ahead, and delivering more constructive and harmonised messages, including by more explicitly encouraging contact and cooperation between the communities and providing direct support to grassroots people-to-people initiatives, and by refraining from actions or rhetoric that detracts from a successful process or could make it more difficult to achieve;

increase their support to, and ensure a meaningful role for, civil society engagement in peace efforts, in particular by forming a consultative body as agreed in the informal broader-format meeting in July 2025, strengthening the participation of women’s organisations, and supporting implementation of the recommendations of the socioeconomic impact assessment to address existing barriers and ensure a future peace agreement can more equally benefit men and women in Cyprus, welcoming the establishment of the Technical Committee on Youth and its first public event, and noting ongoing initiatives by the Committees;

Regrets the ongoing lack of full, equal and meaningful participation of women and the participation of youth in the Settlement process, welcomes the Action Plan on women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in the settlement process, to support and encourage engagement with civil society, including women’s organisations and women leaders, and to include a women, peace and security perspective in a future settlement process, urges the leaders of both sides as a matter of priority to provide the Technical Committee on Gender Equality with the political support to accelerate the thorough and effective implementation of all recommendations under the Action Plan, and to review implementation of the plan every six months and provide recommendations as appropriate, and continues to note the Secretary-General’s call to ensure the inclusion of women in future delegations;

Deeply regrets the lack of progress on an effective mechanism for direct military contacts between the sides and the relevant involved parties, and requests flexibility and engagement by the sides and the relevant involved parties, facilitated by UNFICYP, to develop a suitably acceptable proposal on the establishment of such a mechanism, and its timely implementation;

Calls upon the sides to reduce existing barriers to intercommunal contact, emphasizes the importance of effective communication for risk-mitigation and trust-building between the communities, and in this regard welcomes the continued flow of trade across the Green Line, while noting that trade levels have not yet reached their full potential, encourages further progress to realise this potential, echoes the Secretary-General’s call for renewed efforts to remove remaining obstacles and the focus in the informal broader-format meetings on practical measures to improve intercommunal contact and build trust between communities, welcomes agreement between the leaders on specific trust-building initiatives at the two meetings, further welcomes progress made in delivering on these commitments to date, and in this regard encourages further efforts by the leaders to deliver on the agreed trust-building initiatives, especially on the issue of opening of new crossing points, recognising that confidence building measures are important for creating a conducive environment but are not a substitute to achieving a solution to the Cyprus problem;

Commends the ongoing work of the Committee on Missing Persons, calls upon all parties to enhance their cooperation with the Committee’s work, in particular through providing full access without delay to all areas and responding in a timely manner to requests for archival information on possible burial sites, and supports the call of the two leaders to keep the Committee’s work free from political interference and to avoid any politicisation of this humanitarian process;

Expresses its full support for UNFICYP, decides to extend its mandate for a further period ending on 31 January 2027, affirms its intention to continue to monitor the situation in Cyprus closely, and further affirms its readiness to review the implementation of this resolution as necessary, taking into account the advice of the Secretary-General in the reports requested in paragraph 24 of this resolution;

Condemns the continued violations of the military status quo along the ceasefire lines, the reported encroachment by both sides into the Buffer Zone and the risks associated, the challenges to the mission’s delineation of the Buffer Zone, the ongoing reported military violations, the continued unauthorised constructions and installation of military-grade surveillance systems along the Buffer Zone as outlined in paragraphs 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21 and 22 of the Secretary-General’s report (S/2026/8), which pose significant challenges to UNFICYP’s operations and mandated authority, expresses concern regarding the blurring of distinction between civilian and military structures as outlined in paragraph 16 of the Secretary-General’s report (S/2026/8), and reiterates its support for the proposal of the Secretary-General for a dialogue between the parties and the Special Representative to explore a possible agreement on technology installations and unmanning of positions adjacent to the Buffer Zone;

Stresses the need for the sides and all involved parties to respect UNFICYP’s mandated authority in and delineation of the Buffer Zone and to refrain from unilateral actions in contravention thereof, reaffirms that the Security Council recognizes UNFICYP’s delineation of the Buffer Zone, expresses particular concern over the lack of de-escalatory steps in and around the Buffer Zone and reported high number of move forward violations as set out in paragraph 15 of the Secretary-General’s report (S/2026/8) and challenges to the status quo of the Buffer Zone in certain areas, calls for the restoration of the status quo ante concerning violations in the Buffer Zone, reaffirms the importance of the use of the 2018 United Nations aide-memoire by the sides to ensure peace and security in the Buffer Zone, continues to request the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council and troop- and police-contributing countries any actions that impede UNFICYP’s ability to fulfil its mandate, including risks to the integrity of the Buffer Zone, as well as the safety, security, access and freedom of movement of UNFICYP personnel, and all instances of interference with UNFICYP’s activities across the island by all actors and efforts to hold perpetrators of such actions accountable, as applicable, and calls urgently on both sides to respect the integrity and inviolability of the Buffer Zone, to remove all unauthorised constructions and to prevent unauthorised military or civilian activities within and along the ceasefire lines;

Stresses that UNFICYP’s mandated authority extends throughout Cyprus, calls on all parties to continue to cooperate with UNFICYP, strongly urges full respect for UNFICYP’s freedom of movement throughout Cyprus and the cessation of all restrictions on the mission’s movement and access, including to ensure systematic and effective monitoring and reporting by the mission particularly on the situation in Varosha, as well as elsewhere, stresses that restrictions on freedom of movement can present serious risks to the safety and security of United Nations personnel serving in peacekeeping operations, welcomes UNFICYP making use of relevant tools to enhance its situational awareness, encourages further progress in this regard within existing resources and, as appropriate, in consultation with parties within existing practice, and requests the Secretary-General, Member States and all parties to strengthen their efforts to take all appropriate measures to ensure the safety and security and freedom of movement of UNFICYP personnel with unhindered and immediate access, in line with resolution 2518 (2020);

Expresses concern over unauthorised or criminal activities in the Buffer Zone and the risks they pose to peacekeeper safety and security, condemns any attack and expresses concern about any aggressive behaviour towards UNFICYP and its personnel, and calls for the perpetrators of such attacks to be held to account;

Underlines the importance of a proactive approach to strategic communications, and requests UNFICYP to strengthen its existing efforts to monitor and to counter disinformation and misinformation;

Reiterates its 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, and reaffirms that UNFICYP’s freedom of movement should be respected;

Continues to urge the leaders of both communities to agree and continue a plan of work to achieve a mine-free Cyprus, and to overcome the existing barriers to this work as outlined in paragraph 17 of the Secretary-General’s report (S/2026/8), in order to make expeditious progress towards clearing the 29 remaining suspected hazardous areas on the island;

Requests the Secretary-General to implement the following activities and existing obligations in the planning and conduct of UNFICYP’s operations within the limits of the mandate and area of operations and in line with existing United Nations guidelines and regulations:

women, peace and security requirements under resolution 1325 (2000) and all resolutions addressing women, peace, and security, including by seeking to increase the number of women in UNFICYP in line with resolution 2538 (2020), including through ensuring the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women at all levels, and in all aspects of its operations including senior leadership positions, and through ensuring work environments that are safe, enabling and responsive to the needs of all women in peacekeeping operations, as well as taking fully into account women, peace and security considerations as a crosscutting issue throughout its mandate, and reaffirming the importance of sufficient gender expertise in all mission components and capacity strengthening in executing the mission mandate in a gender-responsive manner;

peacekeeping performance requirements under resolutions 2378 (2017) and 2436 (2018);

the United Nations zero-tolerance policies on serious misconduct, sexual exploitation and abuse, and sexual harassment, and all actions under resolution 2272 (2016), and to report to the Security Council if such cases of misconduct occur;

implementing more effective casualty and medical evacuation procedures, as well as deploying enhanced medical evacuation capacities;

taking active and effective measures to improve the planning and functioning of UNFICYP’s safety and security facilities and arrangements;

youth, peace and security requirements under resolutions 2250 (2015), 2419 (2018) and 2535 (2020);

Urges troop- and police-contributing countries to continue taking appropriate action to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse, including vetting, predeployment and in-mission awareness training for all personnel, to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving their personnel, including through timely investigations of all allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse, to take appropriate disciplinary measures, and to report to the United Nations fully and promptly on actions undertaken, and calls on the Secretary-General, in line with Security Council resolutions 2272 (2016) and 2436 (2018), to repatriate units when there is credible evidence of widespread or systemic sexual exploitation and abuse by those units;

Requests troop- and police-contributing countries to implement relevant provisions of resolution 2538 (2020) and all other relevant resolutions on reducing barriers to and increasing women’s participation at all levels and in all positions in peacekeeping, including by ensuring work environments that are safe, enabling and responsive to all women in peacekeeping operations;

Notes the United Nations Department of Operational Support’s Strategy: “Way Forward: Environment Strategy for Peace Operations 2023–2030”;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit two reports, by 6 July 2026 and 4 January 2027 respectively, 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 every six months 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 7, 8, 9 and 10, with a view to reaching a sustainable and comprehensive settlement, further requests the Secretary-General to include the contents of these updates in his Good Offices reports; requests also the Secretary-General to submit two reports, by 6 July 2026 and 4 January 2027 respectively, on the implementation of this resolution that provides integrated, evidence-based and data-driven analysis, strategic assessments and frank advice to the Security Council, drawing on data collected and analysed through the Comprehensive Planning and Performance Assessment System (CPAS), the mission’s implementation of the Integrated Peacekeeping Performance and Accountability Framework (IPPAF) and other strategic planning and performance measurement tools to describe the mission’s impact and overall mission performance, including information on undeclared caveats, declining to participate in or undertake patrols and their impact on the mission, and how the reported cases of underperformance are addressed, and to keep the Security Council updated on events as necessary;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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