Source description last updated: 30 November 2020

In brief: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), one of the six main organs of the UN, is primarily responsible for maintaining international peace and security. The UNSC regularly publishes reports about their international missions and worldwide developments concerning politics, security, human rights etc.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

Reports of the UN Secretary-General, Mission Reports, Reports of Panels of Experts & Monitoring Groups etc.

Covered weekly on ecoi.net, for countries of priorities A, B and C.

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

The UN Charter “gives primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security to the Security Council, which may meet whenever peace is threatened.” (UN Security Council website: What is the Security Council?, undated)

The UN Security Council “has 15 Members (5 permanent and 10 non-permanent members). Each Member has one vote. Under the Charter, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions. The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression. It calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement. In some cases, the Security Council can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorize the use of [military] force to maintain or restore international peace and security. The Security Council has a Presidency, which rotates, and changes, every month.” (United Nations website: Main Organs, undated)

“[T]he meetings of the Security Council shall be held at the call of the President at any time he deems necessary, but that the interval between meetings shall not exceed fourteen days.” (UN Security Council: FAQ, undated)

The UN Security Council, within the context of its resolutions (see, for example, UN Security Council: Letter dated 10 July 2019 from the President of the Security Council addressed to the Secretary-General, 10 July 2019, p. 3), sends missions to countries of concern which are documented in the form of Mission Reports. The mission delegations are mostly composed of various countries’ (deputy) Permanent Representatives to the UN and other senior diplomats seconded to the UN (see, for example, UN Security Council: Report of the Security Council mission to the Republic of Colombia, 11–14 July 2019, 18 October 2019, p. 1 and Report of the Security Council mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 5–7 October 2018, 15 November 2018, p. 1).

The Reports of the Secretary-General are reports which “[t]he Secretary-General submits or transmits [...] to the Security Council on issues called for by resolutions” (UN Security Council website: Reports of the Secretary-General, undated). Such issues may include peacekeeping and political missions, regional security, and other topics such as women’s rights and the rule of law. (Dag Hammarskjöld Library website: UN Documentation: Security Council, undated)

See the UN Charter’s chapters V, VI, VII, VIII and XII for details: http://www.un.org/en/charter-united-nations/

Funding:

UN budget

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus: Countries involved in conflicts/disputes or affected by situations that might lead to international friction.

Thematic focus: Conflict and security; human rights issues.

Methodology:

The Reports of the Secretary-General to the Security Council are based on information reported to the Secretary-General by UN field missions and country teams, and other organisations (see, for example, UN Security Council:  Implementation of resolution 2522 (2020); Report of the Secretary-General, 10 November 2020).

Panels of Experts reports on specific countries/regions seek to adhere to standards recommended by the Security Council Informal Working Group on General Issues of Sanctions in a document from December 2006 (available via the link https://undocs.org/en/S/2006/997). They are usually based on desk research as well as visits to the country/region concerned, with information gathered by panel members during meetings with government officials and members of civil society and other groups (see, for example, UN Security Council: Letter dated 27 January 2020 from the Panel of Experts on Yemen addressed to the President of the Security Council, 27 January 2020 and UN Security Council: Final report of the Panel of Experts established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2374 (2017) on Mali and renewed pursuant to resolution 2484 (2019), 7 August 2020)

Security Council Mission Reports are based on information acquired by the mission delegation through meetings with representatives of governments (including heads of state and government), governing and opposition parties, civil society, UN agencies and other organisations in the countries concerned. Information on the composition of a mission can be found in the introduction of mission reports (see, for example, UN Security Council: Report of the Security Council mission to the Republic of Colombia, 11–14 July 2019, 18 October 2019 and UN Security Council: Report of the Security Council mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 5–7 October 2018, 15 November 2018), while the mission programme may be contained in the annex (see, for example, UN Security Council: Report of the Security Council mission to the Republic of Colombia, 11–14 July 2019, 18 October 2019, pp. 12-14). The mission’s terms of reference are published as part of a separate document, a letter of the President of the Security Council to the UN Secretary-General informing about the specific mission to be conducted (see, for example,  UN Security Council: Letter dated 10 July 2019 from the President of the Security Council addressed to the Secretary-General, 10 July 2019, p. 3 and UN Security Council: Letter dated 3 October 2018 from the President of the Security Council addressed to the Secretary-General, 3 October 2018, pp. 2–3).

Languages of publication:

Reports are usually published in English and other official UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish)

 

All links accessed 30 November 2020.