Security Council Debates & Briefings

WFUNA is a neutral, non-partisan organization with a wide membership of United Nations Associations across the globe and a mandate to strengthen the effectiveness of the UN.

Building upon these initiatives to strengthen transparency and facilitate dialogue at the UN Security Council, combined with its role as the 16+ Forum Secretariat, WFUNA is a trusted actor in this field.

On 10th May 2022, WFUNA held a UNSC Election Briefing featuring all UN Security Council candidates seeking election for a non-permanent seat on the Council for the 2023-2024 term. All candidates were ‘clean-slate’ candidates currently running unopposed. The candidate countries were represented by the Permanent Representatives of all five Missions to the UN, H.E. Mr. Cristian Espinosa Cañizares of Ecuador, H.E. Mr. Ishikane Kimihiro of Japan, H.E. Mrs. Vanessa Frazier of Malta, H.E. Mr. Pedro Comissário Afonso of Mozambique, and H.E. Mrs. Pascale Christine Baeriswyl of Switzerland.

WFUNA’s Director of Geneva Office, Mr. Aziel Goulandris moderated the Briefing, which featured interventions and questions from both Member States and Civil Society organizations. The Briefing was held online and attended by approximately 130 Member and Observer States and Civil Society representatives.

The Briefing was broadcast on UN Web TV for wider viewing. The event was also live-tweeted and promoted on social media using the hashtag #UNSCElections. With the active engagement of Member States, UN Associations and Civil Society organizations, the event received considerable attention and allowed for participation from a more global audience.

WFUNA is committed to continuing to host these debates and briefings to uphold and push wider efforts for furthering transparency and accountability of the UN Security Council. 

Asia Pacific, Eastern European and Latin American and Caribbean Groups

June 9, 12:00 p.m. - 13:30 p.m. EDT - Watch full debate  

In 2020, WFUNA again hosted two United Nations Security Council Elections Debates with candidates from regional groups competing for non-permanent seats for the 2021-2022 term. 

On May 27th, WFUNA held a debate with the African Group featuring candidates Djibouti and Kenya. The candidate countries were represented by the Permanent Representatives of both Missions to the UN, H.E. Mr. Mohamed Siad Doualeh of Djibouti and H.E. Mr. Lazarus Ombai Amayo of Kenya. 

On May 29th, WFUNA held the second debate with the Western European and Others Group featuring candidates Canada, Ireland, and Norway. The candidate countries were represented by the Permanent Representatives of all three Missions to the UN, H.E. Mr. Marc-André Blanchard of Canada, H.E. Ms. Geraldine Byrne Nason of Ireland, and H.E. Ms. Mona Juul of Norway.

The UNSC Election Debates were held online and were attended by over 110 Permanent Missions (Member States and Observer States) and over 60 CSOs. The virtual events were also broadcast on UN Web TV for wider viewing.

The moderators of the debates were WFUNA Secretary-General Mr. Bonian Golmohammadi and WFUNA Peace and Security Officer Mr. Pablo Angulo-Troconis. The two UNSC 2020 Election Debates featured interventions and questions from both Member States and Civil Society Organizations. The debates also received considerable attention online since they were promoted on social media with the hashtag #UNSCElections to allow for participation from a global audience and wider stakeholder engagement.

WFUNA is committed to continuing to host these debates and briefings and will maintain its role as convener and coordinator in this effort to advance openness, dialogue and transparency at the UNSC.

The inclusion of civil society from UNHQ, virtually and around the world further allows WFUNA to uphold its mandate in lessening the gap between the UN to the wider international community.

Twitter Recap

Eastern European Group

May 9, ECOSOC Chamber, 10:00 to 11:30 - Watch full debate; Twitter Recap

In May 2018, WFUNA again hosted two UN Security Council Election Debates with candidates from regional groups competing for non-permanent seats for the 2019-2020 term.

On May 4th, WFUNA held a debate with the two candidates from the Western European and Others Group, Belgium and Germany (Israel postponed their candidacy minutes prior to the debate). On May 14th, a debate was held with the two candidates from the Asia-Pacific Group, the Maldives and Indonesia. Candidates from regional groups running for uncontested seats were also invited to hold a joint briefing on priorities for their term on the Council, but this was ultimately not held. WFUNA aims to hold election briefings in 2019 with the four nations assuming uncontested seats for the 2020-2021 term.

For each of the 2018 WEOG and APG Debates, Permanent Missions (Member and Observer States), UN Agencies, Civil Society Organizations and the media were in attendance. Following a lively Q&A, an informal media stakeout took place for one of the candidates after the WEOG Debate.

Approximately 500 people followed live through UN WebTV, with active engagement on Twitter from Member States, UN Associations, and Civil Society Organizations. Users contributed to the hashtag #UNSCElections with 600 total tweets, receiving an estimated 3.3 million impressions over the course of 10 days.

Western European & Other Group Debate

May 4, ECOSOC, 15:00 to 17:00 -  Watch full debate; Twitter recap

Asia-Pacific Group

May 14, CR 1, 10:00 to 12:00 - Watch full debate; Twitter recap

As no seats were contested for 2017, debates were not held.