Research Reports
Longer in-depth analysis of particularly significant Council decisions, processes or practices.
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Insights into the evolving discussion on peace operation transitions and examination of some transition cases exploring Security Council practice, analysis of emerging trends, identification of challenges, and drawing of lessons for planning and managing future transitions.
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The 77th session of the UN General Assembly is scheduled to hold elections on 6 June for five non-permanent seats of the Security Council for the 2024-2025 term.
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Security Council Report’s report of 2 May, Security Council Working Methods in Hard Times, analyses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis on the Council’s working methods and on its transparency, effectiveness, and accountability. These events affected many aspects of life in the Council: how it meets, how it votes, whom it invites to participate in its meetings, and whom it hears from. They presented elected Council members with challenges but also opportunities to make a difference in the work of the Council. The report also covers the work of key groupings that helped shape the Council’s working methods during this period, including the Security Council’s Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions (IWG) and the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency Group (ACT).
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The financing of AU-led peace support operations (AUPSOs) has been an issue in the relationship between the UN and the AU in general, and between the Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) in particular, since 2007. Despite advances in recent years, the AU’s Achilles heel remains the lack of adequate resources to support and sustain these operations.
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This report seeks to address how the Council has engaged with the climate change, peace and security dossier following the December 2021 veto of a draft resolution on this issue.
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Just over a year ago, Ireland, Kenya and Mexico formed a “Presidency Trio for Women, Peace and Security” (WPS), pledging to make WPS “a top priority” of their respective presidencies in September, October and November 2021. During the press conference on the Council’s programme of work for September 2021, Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason (Ireland) described the initiative as “a golden thread” that would run through the Irish, Kenyan and Mexican presidencies.
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This report aims to contribute to a better understanding of how the Security Council has positioned itself on transitional justice issues
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On 9 June, the 76th session of the UN General Assembly is scheduled to hold elections for membership of the Security Council.
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While climate mitigation and adaptation measures are within the purview of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and contributions to such measures are outlined in the Paris Agreement, many Security Council members view climate change as a security threat worthy of the Council’s attention. Other members do not. One of the difficulties in considering whether or not the Council should play a role (and a theme of this report) is that there are different interpretations of what is appropriate for the Security Council to do in discharging its Charter-given mandate to maintain international peace and security.
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On 11 June, the 75th session of the UN General Assembly is scheduled to hold elections for the Security Council.
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This is the sixth research report by Security Council Report (SCR) dedicated to the women, peace and security agenda.
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On 17 June, the 74th session of the UN General Assembly is scheduled to hold elections for the Security Council.
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The Security Council, the UN Secretariat and external assessments have emphasised how better prioritisation and sequencing of Council mandates could contribute to the effectiveness of peace operations. Building on examples from several peace operations—including peacekeeping and special political missions—this report identifies the obstacles that the Council and the Secretariat face in applying these concepts. While acknowledging the structural challenges, the report makes recommendations that would pave the way for incremental changes in how the Council, the Secretariat and field missions approach the mandating process.
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This is Security Council Report’s fifth research report on the rule of law. In it, we continue to explore the Security Council’s work in upholding individual criminal accountability as an aspect of its rule of law agenda in the context of its primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. Through an examination of four situations the Council deals with regularly—Myanmar, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen—the research report takes stock of and assesses the Council’s current attitude and actions in respect of accountability.
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On 7 June, the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly is scheduled to hold elections for the Security Council.
