Civil society tackles UN Security Council reform

Elect the Council is advocating for reform that will restore legitimacy, fairness and transparency to the UN Security Council.

Date: 2015-05-14

Time: 15:00 to 16:30

Venue: Conference room , ISS Pretoria , Block C , Brooklyn Court , 361 Veale Street , map

RSVP: Anu Klaassens
Phone: +27 12 346 9500
Email: [email protected]

A key challenge in today's interconnected and complex world is the decreasing legitimacy of the United Nations (UN) and the UN Security Council in particular. Elect the Council is a global civil society initiative advocating for countries to be elected to represent regions on the UN Security Council on a proportional basis and to do away with the system of permanent members and veto-rights.

Elect the Council aims to galvanise organised civil society globally to help achieve this goal by 2019. Moving to a system of globally elected countries will restore legitimacy to the UN Security Council, along with a sense of fairness, transparency and equity. A new lease on life will be provided to an institution that is being tested in the face of globalisation, shifts in power, and new forms of instability like terrorism and cybercrime.

With the UN Security Council at the pinnacle of global security governance this is a tough nut to crack, but one that needs to be confronted. Elect the Council is well aware of the challenges and past failed efforts. 

This seminar is part of a series of global consultations to discuss and refine Elect the Council’s approach. A summary is available at www.electthecouncil.org or watch the video below.

Chair: Dr Paul-Simon Handy, Senior Research Associate, ISS

Speaker: Dr Jakkie Cilliers, Executive Director, ISS

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