The 15-member Council said it was “encouraged” by President Fuad Masum’s decision to nominate the new Prime Minister-designate.

In a statement, the Council called the nomination “an important step” toward the formation of an inclusive Government representative of all segments of the Iraqi population.

The Government, according to the Council, would also contribute to finding a viable and sustainable solution to the country’s current challenges.

Among those challenges, the terrorist threat posed by the armed group Islamic State (IS) and its armed supporters.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, condemned in the strongest terms the “barbaric acts” of sexual violence and “savage rapes” attributed to IS.

The group has also been accused of grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, and potentially genocide, by Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon’s Special Advisors on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, and on the Responsibility to Protect, Jennifer Welsh.

Given these challenges, the Members of the Security Council urged  Abadi to work swiftly to form an inclusive Government as quickly as possible and within the constitutional time-frame.

According to Article 76 of the Iraqi Constitution, the new Prime Minister-elect has 30 days from the date of designation to name members of his Council of Ministers. At that time, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki will be legally obligated to step down.

Wide view of the Security Council. UN Photo/JC McIlwaine (file photo)