February 2015 Monthly Forecast

Posted 30 January 2015
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THE SECURITY COUNCIL

Chairs of Subsidiary Bodies and Penholders for 2015

Every year, the Security Council revisits its allocation of chairmanships of its subsidiary bodies, a task entrusted to elected Council members. Following deliberations between the P5, and the designation of a P5 coordinator, the coordinator holds separate consultations with the elected members. Decisions regarding the 2015 distribution were coordinated by the US.

As this chart illustrates, there is scant correlation between the “penholders” for situation-specific agenda items and the chairs of the relevant subsidiary bodies. In most, though not all, cases penholders are permanent members. As the penholders take the lead in drafting Council decisions, they normally “trump” chairs notwithstanding the chairs’ formal title and mandate. The table below lists those agenda items which have a designated penholder.

The table is also available in PDF, please click here.

Situation-specific or thematic matter Pen-holder in the Council Chair of the Relevant Council Subsidiary Body
Afghanistan Spain New Zealand, 1988 Taliban Sanctions Committee
Bosnia and Herzegovina Chair of the rotating Contact and Drafting Group N/A
Burundi France N/A
Central Africa Region France N/A
Central African Republic France Lithuania, 2127 CAR Sanctions Committee
Cote d’Ivoire France Chile, 1572 Côte d’Ivoire Sanctions Committee
Counterterrorism (1267 and 1989) US New Zealand, 1267/1989 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee
Cyprus UK N/A
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) France Jordan; 1533 DRC Sanctions Committee
DPRK (Non-proliferation) US Spain, 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee
Great Lakes Region France N/A
Guinea-Bissau Nigeria Nigeria, 2048 Guinea-Bissau Committee
Haiti US N/A
ICTR Chile Chile, International Tribunals Informal Working Group
ICTY Chile Chile, International Tribunals Informal Working Group
Iran (Non-Proliferation) US Spain, 1737 Iran Sanctions Committee
Iraq US on Iraq; UK on Iraq/Kuwait Nigeria, 1518 Iraq Sanctions Committee
Kosovo Chair of the rotating Contact and Drafting Group N/A
Liberia US Jordan, 1521 Liberia Sanctions Committee
Libya UK Malaysia, 1970 Libya Sanctions Committee
Mali/Sahel France on Mali; Chad on Sahel N/A
Middle East France on Syria; Jordan on Syria humanitarian issues; Russia and US on UNDOF (Golan Heights); France on UNIFIL (Lebanon); UK on Yemen Chad, 1636 Lebanon Sanctions Committee
Middle East, including the Palestine Question US, however Jordan also puts forward texts on behalf of the Arab Group N/A
Sierra Leone UK N/A
Somalia UK; US on piracy Venezuela, 751/1907 Somalia-Eritrea Sanctions Committee
Sudan and South Sudan UK on Darfur; US on South Sudan; US on Sudan/South Sudan Venezuela, 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee
Timor-Leste N/A N/A
Ukraine There is no clear pen-holder for Ukraine, but both Russia and the US have drafted texts while Lithuania and the UK have been active in calling for meetings on the issue. N/A
Yemen UK Lithuania, 2140 Yemen Sanctions Committee
West Africa Nigeria N/A
Western Sahara US N/A
Children and Armed Conflict Malaysia Malaysia, Children and Armed Conflict Working Group
Counterterrorism (1373) US Lithuania, 1373 Counterterrorism Committee
Counterterrorism (1566) US Lithuania, 1566 Working Group
Non-proliferation of WMD Spain Spain, 1540 WMD Committee
Peace and Security in Africa Angola Angola, Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa Ad Hoc Working Group
Peacekeeping Operations UK Chad, Peacekeeping Operations Working Group
Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict UK UK, Protection of Civilians Informal Expert Group
Women and Peace and Security UK on 1325 women’s participation and protection; US on 1820 sexual violence in conflict N/A
Working Methods Angola Angola, Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions

N.A.= Not Applicable

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