Security Council Report – 2009 Annual Report

Overview
Security Council Report (SCR) is a corporation established under US law for non-profit purposes. It is also affiliated with Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. There are five principal donor

Liechtenstein has been a donor since 2007 and in 2009 the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the governments of Denmark and Switzerland also became donors.

Mission
The purpose of the establishment of SCR in 2005 was to provide timely, accurate, objective information and analysis on the activities of the Security Council. SCR is not an advocacy organisation. It does not adopt positions or take stands.  

Management
Board of Directors
A Board provides the governance structure for Security Council Report with representatives from the five principal donors and Columbia University.

Jonathan Fanton—who served as the Chair of the Board since 2005 and was instrumental in creating SCR—ended his tenure as President of the MacArthur Foundation and resigned his seat on the Board in 2009. Paul Brest, President of the Hewlett Foundation, was elected as SCR’s second Chair of the Board. The Rockefeller Foundation, represented by Judith Rodin, also resigned its seat on the Board in 2009. The current Board membership consists of:

  • Paul Brest of the Hewlett Foundation and Chair of the Board;
  • Dean John Coatsworth of Columbia University;
  • Barry Lowenkron of the MacArthur Foundation;
  • Ambassador John McNee, Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN;
  • Ambassador Morten Wetland, Permanent Representative of Norway to the UN.

Ed Luck of the International Peace Institute and Tom Weiss of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies provide advisory services to the Board.

International Advisory Group
In 2006 the Board of SCR established a group of eminent persons with in-depth, high-level knowledge of UN and Council issues to form an International Advisory Group. The Group provides SCR with a structured high-level review of its publications and advice on its programmatic activities.

No meeting was held in 2009. However, SCR spent considerable effort this year implementing the Group’s 2008 findings. The Group recommended that SCR continue to focus on publishing more in-depth research studies within its current product line which includes the Special Research Reports and Cross-Cutting Reports and also to expand its non-publication outreach to a range of UN member states. (Click here for a membership list.)

Finance and Budget
The 2009 SCR budget was $2.6 million. Actual expenditure was $2.18 million due to a delay in the proposed shift to new office accommodations. In 2009, the MacArthur Foundation granted $750,000; the Norwegian government granted $667,000; the Hewlett Foundation granted $333,333; the Rockefeller Foundation granted $250,000; the Canadian government $200,000; the Swiss government $50,000, the Danish government $50,000 and the Liechtenstein government $17,000

An audited financial report carried out by the independent auditors Eisner LLP is currently in preparation.

Staff
The current SCR staff includes: Executive Director Colin Keating; Director of Research Joanna Weschler; Programme Coordinator Amanda Roberts; Research Analysts Robert Afriyie, Ikram Hussein, Shamala Kandiah, Nina Pregellio, Troy Prince and Astrid Forberg Ryan; Publications Coordinator Robbin VanNewkirk; and Programme Assistant Jamaal Young. In addition, one part-time research consultant and one part-time editorial consultant are engaged. The staff is usually supplemented by one to two research interns.

Staff members are geographically diverse and represented the following nationalities: Australia, Ghana, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Somalia and the USA.

Staff members speak the following languages in addition to English: Arabic, French, Ga, Indonesian, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Somali, Spanish and Twi.

Current SCR Outputs
Since commencement in October 2005 through year’s end 2009, Security Council Report has published:

  • 50 Monthly Forecasts
  • 182 Update Reports
  • 17 Special Research Reports
  • 6 Cross-Cutting Reports

Over 1,800 hard-copies of the Monthly Forecast, Special Research Reports, and Cross-Cutting Reports are distributed to diplomats, senior UN Secretariat staff, NGOs, academics and the media. Distribution is supplemented by email alerts to our 4,205 subscribers.

Monthly Forecast
The Forecast is SCR’s principal product and 2009 was the fourth full year of publication. The Forecast is published monthly in hard-copy and on the SCR website and is comprised of briefs on the issues on the Council’s agenda for the coming month. 

In 2009 SCR began including in each country-specific brief a synopsis of related developments from the Geneva-based Human Rights Council. 

Security Council Report published twelve Forecasts in 2009. Annex I lists the major active issues on the Security Council agenda which were addressed in each of these reports.  

Update Reports
Update Reports are published electronically throughout the month to complement the Monthly Forecast. They are designed to alert readers to emerging issues or developing situations. SCR published 33 Update Reports in 2009.

  • January: Security Council Subsidiary Bodies, UN Peacekeeping Operations, Israel/Palestine: Gaza, Respect for International Humanitarian Law
  • February: Sudan, DRC, Sri Lanka
  • March: Central African Republic
  • April: DPRK (North Korea), Mediation and Settlement of Disputes, Resurgence of Coups d’état in Africa, Fiji, Sri Lanka, Cyprus
  • May: Chad-Sudan, Cyprus, Myanmar, Security Council Mission to Africa
  • June: Sri Lanka, Northern Uganda and LRA-Affected Areas, Liberia, Peacekeeping: Relationship with TCCs/PCCs
  • July: Post-Conflict Peacebuilding, Djibouti/Eritrea
  • August: Myanmar
  • September: Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, 1540 Committee
  • October: Israel/Palestine, Lebanon: Implementation of Resolution 1559, Support for AU Peacekeeping
  • November: Northern Uganda and LRA-Affected Areas
  • December: Drug Trafficking as a Threat to International Security, Eritrea

Special Research Reports
Special Research Reports are published in hard-copy and on the SCR website to provide an in-depth analysis of particularly significant Council decisions, processes or practice. Two such reports were published in 2009:

Cross-Cutting Reports
Cross-Cutting Reports track the actual performance of the Council in following through on its thematic decisions. These are also published in hard-copy and on the SCR website. Four such reports were published in 2009:

Outreach
Our outreach efforts have resulted in excellent name recognition within the New York UN community. In New York, SCR continues to work with a number of key stakeholders, mainly through briefings and addresses for groups, individuals, Council members, UN missions, the UN Secretariat, foreign policy institutes, NGOs, academic institutions and the media.

SCR focused a significant portion of our outreach activity on implementing recommendations made by the International Advisory Group in 2008 encouraging SCR to develop improved services for member states.

Friends of SCR
In 2009, SCR began hosting a regular monthly briefing targeted at member states that have shown particular interest in following the Security Council. These events have been regularly attended by expert-level staff from member states such as Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, Norway, Singapore and Switzerland. 

Also under the rubric of regular “Friends of SCR” briefings, in are the regular monthly meetings aimed at certain agencies within the UN system which follow the Security Council closely. These briefings are attended by the New York representatives from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees. In addition, New York representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue are invited to attend.

Council Members
The Executive Director and the Director of Research have a monthly meeting with the incoming president of the Council. The Director of Research also meets monthly with the political coordinator of the incoming presidency. 

The Director of Research travelled with Council members during their May 2009 mission to Africa. This trip included stops in Addis Ababa (for meetings with African Union officials), Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia.

SCR staff attended various Security Council Arria formula meetings—for example on Protection of Civilians, where the Executive Director was an invited speaker. SCR also regularly participated in briefings arranged by the NGO Working Group on the Security Council. 

Incoming Members of the Security Council
Working lunches were held at SCR offices with the mission staff of the newly elected Council members (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria) whose terms begin in 2010. Meetings were also held with member states aspiring to Council membership, including Canada and Germany.

Retiring Members of the Security Council
SCR hosted a luncheon for the five Council members whose terms came to a conclusion at the end of 2009: Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, Libya and Viet Nam. This meeting was used an opportunity for those countries’ permanent representatives to share with SCR their experiences and reflections after their two years on the Council. 

Member States
SCR participated in discussions on reform of Council working methods with members of the Group of Small Five (S5): Costa Rica, Jordan, Liechtenstein, Singapore and Switzerland. 

Foreign Governments
The Executive Director and the Director of Research in 2009 met with officials from key ministries in countries such as Australia, Austria, Brazil, Mexico, France, New Zealand, Switzerland, Turkey, and Viet Nam. SCR also hosted or met with several delegations representing parliaments or other government institutions from Canada, Egypt, Finland, Norway and Switzerland. The Executive Director also met with the Prime Minister of New Zealand and the President of Rwanda.  

UN Secretariat
Meetings were held in Geneva with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

Research Analyst Shamala Kandiah accompanied Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his visit to Sri Lanka in June 2009. 

Other UN agencies and departments with whom SCR met included:

  • Executive Office of the Secretary-General
  • Department of Legal Affairs
  • Department of Political Affairs
  • Department of Peacekeeping Operations
  • Department of Field Support
  • UN Institute for Training and Research
  • Office of Internal Oversight Services
  • Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

NGOs
SCR hosts a briefing for NGOs at the beginning of each month. Groups that regularly attend include Amnesty International, CARE, Global Policy Forum, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group, International Rescue Committee, Jacob Blaustein Institute, Médecins Sans Frontières, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam International, Physicians for Human Rights, Refugees International, Save the Children, Women’s Refugee Commission and World Vision. 

Regional Organisations
The Director of Research visited Addis Ababa and established contacts with several officials from the African Union.

Foreign Policy Institutes
In 2009 SCR advised the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). This Cape Town-based organisation was able to launch its own monthly report—using SCR’s Monthly Forecast as a model—covering the AU Peace and Security Council. Additionally, ISS distributes 300 hardcopy versions of SCR’s Forecast and other SCR hard-copy reports to AU staff in Addis Ababa. 

SCR also participated in multiple meetings and conferences organised by:

Media

  • Interviews with several outlets including CNN, BBC, ARD German TV, Swiss Radio, Foreign Policy Magazine, Radio New Zealand, Reuters, AP, South Africa’s Business Day, Al-Jazeera, ABC Radio, CBC News
  • Security Council Report has been cited by major news outlets including New York Times, Boston Globe, Reuters, the Washington Post, the Financial Times, IRIN, Newsweek, El Pais, Middle East Report, ReliefWeb, and The Star

ANNEX I: Issues Covered in the 2009 Monthly Forecasts

  • January 2009 (published 24 December 2008): Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Nepal, Sudan (North/South), West Africa (UNOWA), UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Protection of Civilians
  • February 2009 (published 29 January): DRC, Georgia, Iraq, Lebanon, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan/Darfur, Timor-Leste, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe
  • March 2009 (published 26 February): Afghanistan, Chad/Central African Republic (CAR), Djibouti/Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Kosovo, Lebanon, Liberia, Somalia, UN Support for Peacekeeping by Regional Organisations
  • April 2009 (published 30 March): Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Iraq/Kuwait, Israel/Palestine: Gaza, Nepal, Somalia, Sudan, Western Sahara, Children and Armed Conflict
  • May 2009 (published 30 April): Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, DRC, Israel/Palestine, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan, Counter-Terrorism
  • June 2009 (published 29 May): Afghanistan, Burundi, CAR, Georgia, Golan Heights, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Iraq, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, International Criminal Tribunals, Protection of Civilians
  • July 2009 (published 30 June): Chad/CAR, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Lebanon, Nepal, Somalia, Sudan, Children and Armed Conflict, UN Office for West Africa (UNOWA), Women, Peace and Security.
  • August 2009 (published 30 July): DPRK, Lebanon, Liberia, Iraq, Somalia and Related Horn of Africa Issues, International Criminal Tribunals, Peacekeeping, Women, Peace and Security
  • September 2009 (published 28 August): Afghanistan, Côte d’Ivoire, DPRK, Iran, Haiti, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Women, Peace and Security
  • October 2009 (published 30 September): Afghanistan, Chad/CAR, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Kosovo, Haiti, Lebanon, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Timor-Leste, International Court of Justice, Security Council Elections 2009, Women, Peace and Security
  • November 2009 (published 2 November): DPRK, DRC, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Guinea-Bissau, Lebanon, Nepal, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan/Darfur, Counter-Terrorism Related Subsidiary Bodies, Peacebuilding Commission, Protection of Civilians
  • December 2009 (published 1 December): Afghanistan, Burundi, DRC, CAR, Cyprus, Golan Heights (UNDOF), Iran, Iraq, Liberia, Sudan/Darfur, Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa, Counter-Terrorism, International Criminal Tribunals