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A busy year in the UN Security Council: more openness, diversity mark 2019

Security Council adopts resolution 2476 requesting the establishment of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti BINUH. (June 2019)
UN Photo/Loey Felipe
Security Council adopts resolution 2476 requesting the establishment of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti BINUH. (June 2019)

A busy year in the UN Security Council: more openness, diversity mark 2019

Peace and Security

With over 240 public meetings and a wider range of civil society briefers, the UN Security Council continued its push towards more transparency in 2019, a year marked by widespread popular uprisings and the erosion of hard-won international treaties.

Here are some key figures for the world’s top peace and security body last year:

On three occasions last year, sharply divided delegations presented competing draft resolutions, which resulted in the rejection of six proposed texts. China, France, Russia, UK and the US – the Council’s five veto-wielding permanent members – found themselves particularly at odds over questions of State sovereignty, trading sporadic accusations of interference in domestic affairs.

This is just a snapshot of the Council’s work in 2019 pulled from the annual round-up prepared by our hard-working colleagues in the Meetings Coverage section of the Department of Global Communications (DGC), who provide on-the-day summary coverage of the work of the main UN bodies at Headquarters, as well as of major conferences away from the house.

For an in-depth review of all the action in the Council last year, please go here.