Security Council Working Methods
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For nearly two weeks following its last pre-COVID-19 formal meeting on 12 March, the Security Council became invisible and—in the eyes of the general public and fellow UN members—appeared to be idle. A new programme of work was posted on the Council’s website on 16 March, with that week’s meetings cancelled but retaining those for the weeks of 23 and 30 March. The subsequent versions of the programme of work listed fewer and fewer meetings, and the last one, posted on 27 March, showed no meetings between 12 and 31 March.
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During its presidency in May, Estonia has decided to organise a virtual open debate on the Council’s working methods. Estonia, the vice-chair of the Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions (IWG), will prepare a concept note for the debate jointly with the chair, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Because the special measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic will still be in effect at the time of the debate, statements by non-Council members are likely to be submitted in writing.
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The Dominican Republic is president of the Security Council in April. Earlier today, Council members agreed an “Informal Plan of VTC” for the month. Due to the impact of COVID-19 on the Council’s working methods, members will continue to hold...
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On Friday (March 27), the Security Council agreed to procedures for its meetings and adoptions, created to address the current difficulty of meeting physically due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new measures were set out in a...
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In the upcoming period, several Security Council mandates will expire. These include the mandates of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia and of the Panel of Experts assisting the 1718 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, expiring on 31 March and...
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China has the presidency of the Security Council in March. It has chosen to hold three discretionary events this month. The first will be a debate in early March on “Countering terrorism and extremism in Africa” featuring briefings by Chef...
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Among the Security Council’s ten elected members, the three African states—currently Niger, South Africa and Tunisia—constitute a group with some unique features that translate into how these countries work within the Council. They come from the continent whose conflicts have occupied between half to three-quarters of the Council’s time during each of the past 25 years, and that hosts most of the Council’s mandated peace operations. The three states from the continent have also (with the exception of Morocco until 2017) all been members of the same regional organisation, the African Union (AU), and prior to that, its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity (OAU).
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Belgium holds the presidency of the Security Council for February. It has decided to convene an open debate on “Peacebuilding and sustaining peace: Transitional justice in conflict and post-conflict situations” as one of the signature events of its presidency. High...
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In 2019, geopolitical tensions continued to be reflected in Council action. Difficult and protracted negotiations were the norm, with pushback on previously agreed language from past resolutions.
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The tables below reflect the Security Council penholders and chairs of subsidiary bodies as of January 2020. The tables do not cover all the agenda items of which the Council is currently seized but focus on items with regular outcomes or those for which a subsidiary body has been established. For the full names of agenda items, please refer to the summary statement by the Secretary-General of matters of which the Security Council is seized (S/2020/10) issued on 2 January. The list of chairs of subsidiary bodies is contained in a note by the Council president (S/2020/2), also of 2 January.
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The 17th annual workshop for incoming members of the UN Security Council, titled “Hitting the Ground Running”, will be held on 7 and 8 November on Long Island, New York. The workshop is convened by the government of Finland in...
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The UK is the president of the Security Council this month. It has decided to hold an open debate on reconciliation, which appears to be a follow-up to an open debate during its last presidency (August 2018), on mediation, where...
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In 1997, Security Council members came up with the idea of producing monthly assessments of their own Council presidencies as one means of introducing a more analytical component into the Council’s annual report to the General Assembly. With two exceptions...
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South Africa is the president of the Security Council in October. It has chosen to initiate two debates on peace and security in Africa. The first, scheduled for tomorrow (2 October), will focus on mobilising youth towards “Silencing the Guns”...
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During different periods of the Council’s existence, the pendulum has swung between the need for more open meetings in the spirit of greater transparency, and the wish for closed-door consultations which may bring more effective decision-making. In 2018, the Council held more than twice as many formal, and therefore open, meetings (275) as informal, closed consultations (120). Just six years earlier, there was near-parity in the two types of meetings. The growing proportion of public meetings has again raised questions about the optimum balance the Council should strike.
