United Nations, Aug 4 : UN Security Council (UNSC) is expected to have focus on counter-terrorism issues in August, it was reported. The Council will hold a ministerial-level open debate on "the linkages between terrorism and transnational organized crime" on Thursday, Dian Triansyah Djani, permanent representative of Indonesia to the UN and president of the Council for the month of August, said at a virtual press conference on the Council's program of work on Monday. There will also be a briefing on Secretary-Gneral's biannual strategic-level report on the threat posed by the Islamic State terror group on August 24, reports Xinhua news agency. The Council's other open debate is "pandemics and the challenges to peacebuilding and sustaining peace". The likely briefers include Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Sarah Cliffe, director of New York University's Center on International Cooperation, according to the program of work. Several regular Middle East meetings are on the program of work as well. There will be the three monthly Syria meetings: open and closed video-conferences on the political and humanitarian situation and a closed VTC on the use of chemical weapons. The monthly meetings on developments in Yemen and on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question, are also planned in both open and closed format. In addition, the Council will meet for a briefing on recent developments in Iraq and on the two latest secretary-general's reports, on the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq and on the issue of missing Kuwaiti and third-country nationals and missing Kuwaiti property, including the national archives. Meetings in open and closed format are also planned ahead of adoptions to renew the UN missions in Lebanon and Somalia. An adoption is also expected to renew the Mali sanctions regime, as well as the mandate of its Panel of Experts. The Council will be briefed on the latest secretary-general's report on the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau, as well as developments in the country following the post-electoral crisis earlier in the year. Council members may also participate in a "virtual visiting mission" to meet with key stakeholders in Somalia ahead of the adoption, according to the Security Council Report (SCR), whose mission is to advance the transparency and effectiveness of the Council. The Council will be watching developments in Burundi, Iran, Libya, Myanmar and Sudan, as well as those related to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, and additional meetings may be added as necessary, the SCR said. Indonesia, the fourth most populous country on earth after China, India, and the US, has been elected four times as non-permanent member to the Security Council. /IANS