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What is the Security Council?

The Security Council has primary responsibility, under the UN Charter, for maintaining international peace and security.

When a complaint concerning a threat to peace is brought before it, the Council's first action is usually to recommend that the parties try to reach agreement by peaceful means.

In some cases, the Council itself undertakes investigation and mediation. It may appoint Special Representatives or request the Secretary-General to do so.
Full list of functions and powers

Members of the Security Council

The Council has five permanent members: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States

It has another ten non-permament members who are elected by the General Assembly for a term of two years.

The current non-permanent members are (with year of term's end): Belgium (2008), Congo (Republic of the) (2007), Ghana (2007), Indonesia (2008), Italy, (2008) Panama (2008), Peru (2007), Qatar (2007), Slovakia (2007), and South Africa (2008).

How does the Security Council make decisions?

Each Council member has one vote. Decisions on procedural matters are made by an affirmative vote of at least nine of the 15 members. Decisions on substantive matters require nine votes, including agreement by all five permanent members. This is the rule of "great Power unanimity", often referred to as the "veto" power.

See the Security Council's website for more information

Child rights and the Security Council

The Council began to pay attention to the issue of children and armed conflict when it realised that the use of children in armed conflict had serious consequences for peace and stability. Internal conflicts give rise to displaced families and communities, refugee flows across borders and the use of child soldiers creating the conditions for long-term regional and international instability. 

Since 1999, the Council has become more active on the issue. While its early resolutions contained mainly generic statements about how children should be treated in conflict situations, from 2001 the resolutions began to contain more concrete requests that addressed the practical reality of children involved in situations of armed conflict.

The Resolutions of the Security Council on this issue are:
1261 (1999), 1314 (2000), 1379 (2001), 1460 (2003), 1539 (2004) and 1612 (2005)

What are ‘Annex I’ and ‘Annex II’ that are often mentioned in relation to the Security Council’s work on children and armed conflict? 

Annex I and Annex II are “naming and shaming” lists of parties which violate international standards on children and armed conflict. These are included in the UN Secretary General’s annual report.

Annex 1 lists parties on the agenda of the Council and Annex II lists the parties that are not on the Council agenda. States listed in Annex II are concerned that their listing will lead the Council to look at situations of armed conflict in their countries.

How does the Security Council monitor violations of the rights of children who are affected by armed conflict?

The Security Council passed Resolution 1612 in 2005, which called for the creation of a monitoring and reporting mechanism on six grave violations of children's rights, as well as for the creation of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. The Working Group is piloting its work in seven countries: Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The first reports to come out of these mechanisms, which were on Somalia and Uganda, were published in May 2007.

Does the Security Council have anyone working specifically on the issue of children and armed conflict?

The Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict works with the Council to

• review the reports of the Council’s monitoring and reporting mechanism.
• look at progress made in developing and implementing action plans by groups named in the Secretary General’s lists to stop recruitment and use of children in armed conflict.
• make recommendations on measures to promote the protection of children affected by armed conflict.
• consider country reports. It has begun its work with seven pilot countries: Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
  

What are some of the internal challenges which the Security Council faces in protecting children in situations of armed conflict?

France has led on the protection of children and armed conflict within the Security Council, but the other four permanent members have sometimes shown reluctance in acting on this issue. Below are some of the political concerns of different countries and regions:

China and Russia: Both countries have expressed concern that thematic issues such as children and armed conflict provide a possibility for issues which are not on the Council’s agenda to be pushed onto the Council’s formal agenda.

China: The policy concern about the number of situations that the Security Council is dealing with on its formal agenda.

UK and Russia: The UK expressed concern about the mention of Northern Ireland and Russia about the reference to Chechnya in the Secretary-General’s 2003 report. They were included because there were groups involved in recruiting and using children in armed conflict. However, the UK and Russia argued that these were not situations of armed conflict. As a result of these protests, corrections were issued and references to Northern Ireland and Chechnya were dropped.

US: The US argues that the Security Council should be a place for action and must react to specific situations. The US is reluctant for the Council’s mandate on this issue to be expanded until it shows clear results.

South America: Some countries in South America, for example, Argentina and Brazil, have been strongly lobbied by Colombia, which often appears in Annex II. They have therefore not always been supportive of initiatives involving armed conflicts listed in Annex II.

Africa: Some African members countries, for example, Tanzania and Benin, have expressed unhappiness that most of the countries listed in Annex 1 are African countries.

Other issues that divide Security Council members on the issue of children and armed conflict include whether there should be one or two annexes and whether to use targeted sanctions or just send warning letters to groups involved in recruiting and using children in armed conflict.

For further information, go to the Security Council's website

Read more

 

• Reports of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Nepal
• Office of the Special Representative of the SG for children and armed conflicts
• CRIN's information page on children and armed conflict