The United Kingdom will take on the Presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of March. This will be our 62nd Security Council Presidency, a position that rotates between each of the 15 members of the Council monthly. The UK’s first Presidency was in 1946. At that time conflict prevention was top of the agenda, closely followed by Russia’s military presence in the Middle East, and Europe rebuilding itself.
So you may be asking yourself what has changed?
Well, a lot, actually. The UN needs reform but it has achieved an immense amount in the past 71 years and the UK, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has played a central role throughout.
The UN has helped bring an end to wars in the Middle East, Mozambique and Cambodia, to name a few. It has brought justice to victims of war crimes by holding perpetrators accountable. It has provided aid to the world’s most devastated communities and defended human rights globally. And it has helped bring peace to places like Ivory Coast and Liberia through peacekeeping operations. Overall, the UN Security Council has adopted 2343 resolutions and the UK has been present and engaged in all of these.
We have high ambitions for the UK’s Presidency this March. Our main focus will be conflict prevention in Africa, building on the new UN Secretary-General’s focus on the region. This will include a Security Council visit to the Lake Chad Basin to shine a spotlight on the threat from Boko Haram, the dire humanitarian situation and the underlying causes of fragility.
Later in the month, we expect the Foreign Secretary to chair high level meetings on South Sudan and Somalia. He will be the twelfth Foreign Secretary to address the Security Council. There will also be a ministerial-level debate on Modern Slavery, an issue the UK is playing a leading role in profiling at the UN.
Throughout the month, we will strive to be action-oriented, transparent and interactive, pushing for meaningful outcomes from meetings, briefing the media and engaging with civil society.
The UK has played a leading role at the UN since Winston Churchill signed the United Nations Charter in 1945, and we will continue to use our top seat at the UN table as a force for good.
You can see more on our work and stay up-to-date on the progress we make during the month by following us on @foreignoffice, @UKUN_NewYork and my personal account @MatthewRycroft1. It would be great to hear your comments.