Security Council Report – 2005 Annual Report

Overview
Security Council Report Inc. (SCR) is incorporated as a non-profit organisation in affiliation with Columbia University’s Center on International Organization with the support of the governments of Canada and Norway, the Rockefeller Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.  The purpose of Security Council Report is to provide accurate and objective information and analysis on the activities of the Security Council to a range of audiences including Council members, and the wider UN membership, the UN Secretariat, the NGO and academic communities, and the public.

Security Council Report started the process of establishing the operational capacity of the new organisation in February 2005. Ambassador Colin Keating (a former Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the UN who sat on the Council in 1993-94) was hired as the founding Executive Director.  Office space at One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza was rented.  Fit-out, furnishing and IT installations were commissioned and staff members were recruited.  A design firm was contracted to develop Security Council Report’s branding, logo, and the design and layout of the website and printed products.  A website hosting and printing service provider was contracted.  By August 2005 three full time staff had commenced work and the office was fully furnished. Throughout this period intensive work was undertaken with UN delegations, Secretariat staff and NGOs to build the relationships necessary to produce quality products.  The first Monthly Forecast Report was issued in October and by the end of 2005 Security Council Report had launched its website, published three Monthly Forecast Reports, eight Update Reports and held a very successful launch function in early December and had received extremely positive feedback.

I. Establishment

Set up of SCR, Inc.
The President of the MacArthur Foundation, Jonathan Fanton chairs the Board which provides the governance structure for Security Council Report.  Incorporation was achieved 17 November 2004.  The by-laws were passed on 7 March 2005.  SCR Inc. filed with the IRS its 1023 form for tax-exempt status shortly thereafter and received its IRS employer identification number on 7 April 2005.  Its application for 501(c)(3) status was still pending as of 31 December.

Pursuant to the by-laws Canada’s Ambassador to the UN Allan Rock was elected as Secretary and Treasurer.  Other Board members elected were:

  • Lisa Anderson, James T. Shotwell Professor of International Relations and Dean of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University;
  • Paul Brest, President of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation;
  • Ambassador Wegger Strømmen, Permanent Representative of Norway to the UN; and
  • Dr. Gordon R. Conway, President of The Rockefeller Foundation.

Gordon Conway, upon retirement from his position as President of the Rockefeller Foundation, resigned his seat on the Board.  On 20 April the Board elected Dr. Judith Rodin, the new President of the Rockefeller Foundation, as his successor. Ambassador Strømmen was appointed as the Norwegian Ambassador to the UN in Geneva and he resigned from the Board.  On 28 November the Board elected Ambassador Johan L. Løvald of Norway as his successor. 

Board Meetings
During 2005 the Board held six meetings as follows: 20 January, 7 March, 20 April, 17 June, 6 September and 28 November.

The Board of Directors now meets at Security Council Report’s offices in New York City.  Professor Ed Luck of Columbia University, Professor Thomas Weiss of the CUNY Graduate Center, Heidi Hulan of the Canadian Mission to the UN, Mary Page of the MacArthur Foundation and Ram Manikkalingam, previously at the Rockefeller Foundation, have been participating in Board meetings in an informal capacity as advisers. Board meetings are usually followed by an Executive Meeting between the Directors and the Executive Director.

Funding
Security Council Report’s five donors committed funding to the organisation for 2005-2007.  The MacArthur Foundation and the Norwegian Government have granted $500,000 each per year.  The Rockefeller Foundation granted $340,000 in 2005 and $330,000 for the two following years.  The Hewlett Foundation granted $250,000 per year and the Canadian Government $200,000 per year.

Agreement with Columbia University
The Board decided that the relationship with Columbia University should be in the nature of an agreement for services rather than a grant relationship.  Accordingly, a contract between Security Council Report and Columbia University was drafted.  As of 31 December it had not been finalised. 

Appointment of the Executive Director
Ambassador Colin Keating was appointed as the founding Executive Director of Security Council Report. 

Ambassador Keating served as the Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the United Nations between 1993 and 1996.  During his tenure as ambassador to the UN he represented New Zealand on the Security Council in 1993-94.  He served in several positions in the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and from 1997 to 2000 he served as New Zealand’s Secretary for Justice.

Staffing
The full-time staff recruitment process was facilitated by Columbia University.

Ms Joanna Weschler was hired as the Director of Research.  Ms Weschler, who is Polish, is well known to the UN Community as the Director of UN Advocacy at Human Rights Watch, a position she left to join Security Council Report. Previously she had a career in journalism.  She is fluent in Spanish, as well as Polish and English.

Ambassador Curtis Ward was retained directly by SCR, Inc. on a part-time basis as a Senior Research Consultant.  Ambassador Ward is a former Deputy Permanent Representative of Jamaica and a representative of Jamaica on the Security Council. He also served subsequently in the UN Secretariat, helping establish the Counter-Terrorism Committee Secretariat.

Ms Fernanda Fernandes, from Brazil, and Ms Anne-Gaëlle Claude, from France, were hired as full-time Research Analysts.  Ms Fernandes held a number of legal and political analysis positions in Brazil and has served with the United Nations in Timor-Leste. She speaks Portuguese, Spanish and English. Ms Claude has experience working for the French Government at a number of embassies and for the United Nations Secretariat in New York and speaks French and English.  Both hold a Master of International Affairs from SIPA at Columbia University. 

Ms Amanda Roberts, from the United States, was hired as the full-time Programme Coordinator.  Ms Roberts has several years of non-profit experience from Columbia University and the World Policy Institute where she held management positions. She has a Master of International Affairs from SIPA and an Advanced Certificate from the Middle East Institute at Columbia University. She speaks English and Arabic.

In addition, the staff members were supplemented by several research interns recruited through the Center on International Organization at SIPA and the Ralph Bunche Institute at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.  Part-time administrative assistance was also obtained.

Location and Build Up of Office Space & Equipment
Office space was leased on the 31st floor of One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza at 48th Street and 2nd Avenue because of its proximity to the United Nations.  The same building also houses several UN Missions such as the Canadian, Swedish and Irish Missions as well as Security Council members France, UK and Denmark.

The fit-out of the office was completed in late July 2005.  It has seven offices for staff.  There are three more workstations in an open plan layout for student research interns and administrative support.  In addition, there is a conference room suitable for meetings of twenty to thirty people, an equipment room/pantry and a small climate controlled IT server room.

Security Council Report worked closely with SIPA’s Information Technology Director Harpreet Mahajan to create systems which would allow for the efficient flow of information between staff members.  There are ten computers all networked to a shared drive which can be accessed by all staff members. The office has also been set up with a secure wireless network and ethernet connections for high-speed internet connection.  The telephone system was put into place by Columbia University’s Office of Communication Services.

The equipment/pantry room is outfitted with a color photocopier, a color printer, a high-speed laser printer and a fax machine.  Each piece of equipment is networked to individual work stations.  The conference room was set up with audio visual resources including: a computer networked to the shared drive, an internet connection, video and teleconferencing capabilities, and an LCD projector for presentations and cable television for breaking news. 

Security Council Report retained the services of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP as legal counsel and Eisner LLP as independent auditors.

II. Launch

Preparation of Initial “Mock Ups”
A significant amount of time was spent in collaboration with Emerson Wajdowicz Studios (EWS) to finalise Security Council Report’s graphic identity. 

EWS was charged with creating a logo which would communicate Security Council Report’s core value of providing objective and freely available analysis on Security Council affairs in order to increase the transparency and accountability of the UN body.  Other criteria emerged during the creative process.  Because other organizations in the US use the acronym “SCR” it was considered important that Security Council Report come to be known by its full name and not an acronym, therefore any design using “SCR” was avoided.  It was also important to use colours that would bring the UN to mind while still indicating the organisation’s independence from the UN.  In the end, black and royal blue (distinct from a UN blue) became the chosen colour scheme.

Once the logo and colour scheme were agreed Security Council Report’s letterhead, business cards and brochure were printed.  Work then proceeded to rendering the logo into several mock-up versions of the website and the initial print product, the Monthly Forecast.

The guiding principles behind the design of the Monthly Forecast were:

  • a front page that wasn’t too crowded but still relayed the essential information about the month ahead and each issue’s contents;
  • a simple format for internal pages that was easy to read;
  • a graphic tool which would easily differentiate briefs for the reader; and
  • a clean visual device that would offset listings (like UN documents and historical background) without overwhelming the page and drawing the reader’s eye away from the text.

Once these goals were met in simple mock-ups of the front page and an interior page, EWS was asked to do a complete “dry run” of a twenty page Monthly Forecast.  This exercise allowed EWS and Security Council Report to work in tandem to resolve design problems and establish production schedules before the launch of the first issue.

The website design process closely matched the approach developed for the Monthly Forecast.  The website required that all crucial information be easily visible on the homepage of www.securitycouncilreport.org and it must be easy to navigate for the user.  After Security Council Report approved the EWS design for the website it began to work with Kintera, a company which provides website publishing tools to the non-profit community.   Six to eight weeks were spent in close consultation with Kintera to implement the web design of EWS and post the initial content. The website went live on 28 October 2005.

First Issue
The November 2005 Monthly Forecast was the first issue published on 31 October 2005.  It was a product of many months of discussion between the Executive Director, ambassadors and other potential users, and staff.

In August 2005 Ambassador Keating presented a mock-up of a possible draft Forecast to a group of mid-level diplomats and received useful feedback.  Advice was sought from heads of other research NGOs and top-level UN Secretariat staff. 

The Board then considered how Security Council Report could balance the varying needs from prospective readers.  The Board envisaged three types of reportage:

  • regular reports that reflect the dynamics within the Council;
  • detailed studies on issues that member states need information on; and
  • short update reports as needed.

In order to ensure the quality of the first written product of Security Council Report the Board suggested that the first issue should cover only a selected number of topics.  It was decided to include a statement of editorial approach to describe how editorial decisions were made and to elucidate how the Forecast hoped to evolve over time.

All of this was taken into consideration during the drafting process of the first issue which included: a statement of editorial approach, an overview for the month, three long pieces on Lebanon/Syria, Darfur and the DRC, three short pieces on other African issues, two briefs on the ICJ elections and Council subsidiary bodies, a short piece on Bosnia and Herzegovina, and an in-depth treatment of a thematic issue-women, peace and security.

Distribution Lists
A significant task in 2005 was the development of initial distribution lists.  It was seen as imperative that Security Council Report’s target audience receive the initial issue as soon as the production cycle was complete.  Accordingly, each Ambassador to the UN received three copies of the report via courier service along with a personalised letter introducing Security Council Report and its publication.  Some fifty senior staff in the Secretariat received similar packages, hand-delivered by Security Council Report staff.  Each month SCR organised same day delivery to all of the UN Missions and to the Secretariat upon delivery of the hard copy of the Monthly Forecast.

SCR also created an email list-serve of another five hundred key staff from UN Missions, the Secretariat, media, academia and NGOs to receive notification as soon as a Forecast or an Update were posted on the website-a full business day before the print version was available. In subsequent months SCR expanded its email list-serve to a little over two thousand recipients.  The list-serve at end of 2005 included additional staff from the aforementioned groups as well as the heads of all the peacekeeping and UN Information Centre field offices, representatives to the UN from regional and international organisations, staff from several member states’ ministries of foreign affairs, and key journalists from most of the major international newspapers, radio stations and broadcasting channels.

Launch Reception
On 6 December 2005 Security Council Report hosted a launch reception, attended by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, to formally introduce Security Council Report, its mission and its staff to the UN community. 

All of the UN Permanent Representatives, key staff from the Secretariat and UN Missions, members of the NGO and academic communities with UN interests, and UN correspondents were invited to the reception held in the ballroom of the UN Millennium Plaza Hotel.  The launch was a gratifying success with almost two hundred of the invitees attending including the Secretary-General, the Secretary-General’s Chief of Staff, several Under Secretaries-General and some seventy ambassadors.

III. Products

Monthly Forecast
Security Council Report published three Monthly Forecasts in the final quarter of 2005 and in these issues included items on almost all of the active issues facing the Security Council during that period.   In this relatively short period of time, SCR was also able to provide coverage on Council Subsidiary Bodies, the Council Mission to central Africa and the election by the Council of judges to the International Court of Justice.

  • November 2005 Monthly Forecast (published 31 October): Editorial Approach, Overview for November, Lebanon/Syria, Darfur, Democratic Republic of Congo, ICJ Elections, Council Visiting Mission to central Africa, Update on Council Subsidiary Bodies, Women Peace and Security, Burundi, Central African Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • December 2005 Monthly Forecast (published 22 November): Overview for December, Lebanon/Syria, Ethiopia/Eritrea, Cyprus (UNIFCYP), Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, Darfur, Golan Heights (UNDOF), Counter-Terrorism Committee Issues, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Timor-Leste and Liberia
  • January 2006 Monthly Forecast (published 22 December): Overview for January, Great Lakes Initiative, Sudan/Darfur, Lebanon/Syria, Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI), Georgia (UNOMIG), Western Sahara (MINURSO), Lebanon/Israel (UNIFIL), Council Working Group on Sanctions, Afghanistan and Somalia

 Website
The website, www.securitycouncilreport.org, went live on 28 October 2005 and included our first Forecast, essential information about the organisation.  The site averaged approximately 250 visitors per day and almost 15,000 visitors in a three month period.  In December 2005 the site received over 5,200 hits. 

Visits to the site are increasing monthly as is its ranking at www.google.com.  By end of December the site was second only to Google’s own news results for “Security Council.” 
 
Update Reports
Update Reports are published throughout the month to complement the Monthly Forecast in order to advise readers, in advance, of developments within the Council.  Below is a complete list of Update Reports published through January 2006.

Profiles
After gaining operational experience with the daily demands of producing a monthly publication and Update Reports simultaneously, SCR began to draft background reports.  “Profiles” is the working title for these in-depth background pieces that are designed to be a web-based supplement to the Monthly Forecast reports, with the first scheduled for publication in February 2006.

IV. Feedback
Soon after Security Council Report’s first Monthly Forecast was distributed positive feedback began to flow in from its targeted readers in UN missions, the Secretariat and NGOs. Most readers commented on the Forecast’s useful information and analysis and praised accessible format of its briefs. The first issue quickly heightened Security Council Report’s visibility and credibility in UN circles.  On 10 November SCR’s initiative was mentioned by two Ambassadors, Vanu Gopala Menon of Singapore and Hjálmar W. Hannesson of Iceland, in statements to the General Assembly. Some readers were keen to see Security Council Report expand its capacity to include more in-depth pieces and writing which provided more detailed analysis of political dilemmas within the Council. 

V. Activities

UN Missions
Security Council Report has initiated a regular practice of meeting the incoming Council president.   

The first such briefing was held in September (for the October Council) with the incoming President, Ambassador Mihnea Ioan Motoc of Romania.  In the following months SCR also met with Council Presidents for November, Ambassador Andrey I Denisov of Russia; December, Ambassador Sir Emyr Jones Parry of the UK; and January 2006, Ambassador Augustine P Mahiga of Tanzania.

Security Council Report has also made a successful effort to meet with each of the permanent Council members.  Ambassador Keating has met with the Ambassadors from the UK, China, France, Russia and US to introduce Security Council Report. 

SCR also made similar outreach efforts toward all the non-permanent Council members and many other UN missions.

In November Colin Keating and Joanna Weschler attended a workshop for incoming Council members in Tarrytown NY.

UN Secretariat
In November Security Council Report invited Linda Perkin, the Director of the Security Council Affairs Division of the UN’s Department of Political Affairs (DPA), and her staff to the SCR offices.  The purpose of this meeting was to introduce the staffs to one another and to elicit feedback on SCR publications.  A similar meeting was held in December with Under Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Shashi Tharoor and his senior staff from the Department of Public Information (DPI). 

Ambassador Keating spent significant time in 2005 engaging in discussions with important members of the UN Secretariat staff to build critical inter-institutional relationships.  He met with Secretary-General Kofi Annan to brief him about Security Council Report and its activities.  He also met the Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette, the Secretary-General’s Chief of Staff Mark Malloch-Brown, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General Lakhdar Brahimi, Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland, Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi, and Pierre Bertrand of the UNHCR.

NGOs
Effort has also been extended to forge links with the NGO community. In that vein, Ambassador Keating has met with both Gareth Evans and Donald Steinberg of the International Crisis Group and with Juan Mendez, President of the International Center for Transitional Justice and the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide.

Security Council Report was also invited to become a member of the NGO Working Group on the Security Council, organised by the Global Policy Forum.  Colin Keating was invited to brief the group’s members on Security Council Report’s purpose and activities at a 10 November meeting hosted by SCR.  Over thirty members of the group participated. 

After joining the NGO Working Group on the Security Council, SCR staff members, in particular Joanna Weschler, have been participating in the Group’s meetings.

Wider Public
While Security Council Report’s publications are available to all from the website, SCR will try to engage the wider public through establishing strong contacts with both print and broadcast media.  Ambassador Keating has met with UN correspondents Betsy Pisik of the Washington Times, Warren Hoge of the New York Times, Suzy Price of the BBC and Richard Roth of CNN.

VI. Plans for 2006

International Advisory Group
SCR anticipates appointing a group of twelve to fifteen individuals to form an International Advisory Group.  The individuals in the group will encompass a range of issue area expertise as well as reflect a regional and gender balance. 

Outreach to the Academic Community
In cooperation with Professor Thomas Weiss of the CUNY Graduate Center and Professor Ed Luck of Columbia University, Security Council Report will build a network of academics so that Security Council Report will have contact with top-level writers and researchers working on: the Security Council itself, the UN in general, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, regional issues that are before the Security Council, conflict-resolution, and international security policy.  

Outreach to the Media
Security Council Report anticipates that its work to build media contacts will start to show results in 2006.
 
Other
Other priorities for 2006 include filling out the website content; finding more ways to be of assistance to UN Missions; publishing in-depth research studies and occasional papers; and hosting briefings, seminars and/or retreats for selected member states, Secretariat staff, NGOs and media.

VII. Financial Report
Expenditures for Security Council Report in 2005 were US$1.32 million.  $1.10 million was expended through Columbia University: $546,711 on personnel costs, $294,000 on the construction and fit-out of the office, and the remaining $260,471 on operating costs.  Direct costs paid by Security Council Report Inc. were $217,493. 

An audited financial report for the entire budget carried out by the independent auditors of Eisner LLP will follow in early 2006.