Interaction with Regional and other International Organisations
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On Wednesday afternoon (26 September), the Council will hold a high-level meeting on the Middle East focused on cooperation between the UN and the League of Arab States. The Secretaries-General of the UN and the Arab League, Ban Ki-moon and...
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On 26 September, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will preside over a high-level meeting of the Security Council on peace and security in the Middle East. The meeting will have a particular focus on the institutional relationship between the Security Council and the League of Arab States, with the UN and Arab League Secretaries-General expected to address the Council.
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Tomorrow (13 June), Security Council members and the African Union Peace and Security Council (AU PSC) are scheduled to hold their 6th annual consultative meeting, taking place in New York. (The previous consultations took place in Addis Ababa on 21...
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In June, Council members expect to hold the annual consultative meeting with the AU's Peace and Security Council (PSC) at UN headquarters in New York. A communiqué is a likely outcome.
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ABIDJAN: This afternoon (21 May) Council members on the West Africa visiting mission had a high-level meeting with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. This was the first such meeting between Council members and...
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This afternoon (8 February), the Secretary-General is scheduled to brief Council members in informal consultations on his recent visit to the Middle East and Addis Ababa where he attended the AU Summit from 29-30 January. (The Secretary-General was in Lebanon...
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The Council appears ready to vote on a resolution on the UN-AU partnership following the high-level debate scheduled for tomorrow morning (12 January). The resolution was put in blue earlier today. The debate will be chaired by South Africa’s President...
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In January, the Council is expected to hold an open debate on the strategic partnership between the UN and the AU with respect to maintenance of peace and security in Africa. South African President Jacob Zuma is expected to preside and the President of the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) in January 2012 (Kenya) is likely to address the Council. The Secretary General is likely to brief on the UN's strategic vision for UN-AU cooperation. A likely outcome will be a resolution underlining the importance of the relationship and stressing the need to create mechanisms for a more effective strategic partnership.
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The Security Council has scheduled a briefing on 21 June by the head of the new Addis Ababa-based UN Office to the AU, Zachary Muburi-Muita. The office was established in 2010 and is currently close to becoming fully operational. No outcome is expected from this meeting.
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Members of the Security Council and AU Peace and Security Council held a joint consultative meeting on 21 May in Addis Ababa. (These annual consultations alternate between the UN and the AU’s headquarters.) On the agenda were crisis situations, Libya,...
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This Special Research Report responds to a growing interest in how to improve the joint efforts of both the UN Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council to prevent and end violent conflicts in Africa. For almost six years SCR has been analysing these efforts in country-specific situations and at the thematic level. But with the tenth anniversary of the AU inauguration just over a year away it seemed clear that the relationship still had many problems and was very far away from realising its potential for being an effective partnership. In an effort to provide some detailed analytical tools for the parties, this report represents the beginning of an ongoing and detailed engagement by SCR on this issue. The preliminary conclusions from this report suggest that most of the necessary institutional steps are already in place, but given the resource constraints in the UN and even more so in the AU, it is a mistake to expect the secretariats to bring about a real partnership. Leadership by the member states of both Councils will be key and engagement needs to go beyond the brief and often symbolic visits to Addis Ababa and New York. Investment of more time and member state energy will be essential. A number of possible options in this regard are identified in this report. Other possibilities including the role of the subregional bodies will be examined in future reports.
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In February the OSCE chairperson-in-office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, is expected to brief the Council on the activities of the OSCE. He will provide an overview of priorities and plans for its 2011 chairmanship of the organisation. No Council decision is expected.
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In July Council members will hold fourth annual consultations with the AU Peace and Security Council. All 15 members of the AU Council, as well as AU Commissioner of Peace and Security Ramtane Lamamra are expected to be invited to participate.
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On 5 February the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev is scheduled to brief the Council in an open meeting. He is expected to provide an overview of Kazakhstan’s priorities and plans for its 2010 chairmanship of the organisation.
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On 13 January the Council will hold a debate at the initiative of China on the relationship between the UN and regional and subregional organisations. In its concept paper China emphasises the pre-eminence of the Security Council in matters pertaining to the maintenance of international peace and security.
