Briefing on the Security Council's new tools

Dates: 6 June 2007

Objective
The main objective of this orientation course is to enable representatives to familiarize themselves with the work and procedures of the Security Council.

Organization
Participants will be reviewing the functions, practices and procedures of the Security Council. They will also be briefed on the main issues before the Council and on the role of the President of the Council and informal consultations. The course will be highly intensive and will require the active involvement of all the participants throughout the course.

Participants
The course is designed primarily for representatives of newly-elected members of the Security Council, as well as newly-arrived representatives of other members of the Council. Depending on the availability of seats, delegates from other States may attend as observers.

Resource persons
The course will be conducted by Mr. Jean Gazarian, UNITAR Senior Fellow. Presentations will be made by experienced diplomats who have served on the Security Council and by members of the Secretariat.

Working languages
Interpretation will provided, to the extent possible in the official languages of the United Nations

In recent years, the Security Council has vastly expanded its array of mechanisms used to address threats to international peace and security. Closer cooperation with regional organizations such as the African Union, the establishment of the International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC, Lebanon), the referral of the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC) are recent examples of this trend. The speakers at this panel discussion will analyze such "outsourcing" in particular in view of the Security Council's primary responsibility for international peace and security under the Charter.