The Security Council's agenda and implications for Vienna-based international organisations
The topics of nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament or energy security in general are just some of the agenda items of Vienna’s multilateral environment that also have a strong relevance for the work of the United Nations Security Council. Because of all those interlinkages between the Security Council and Vienna’s International organizations, funds and programmes it is of pertinence for the effectiveness of our global governance system that Vienna-based representatives are familiar with the main issues dealt with at the Security Council, the Council’s working methods and the implications of its reform proposals. This two-day workshop aims at providing such information to delegates at permanent missions to UNOV and other institutions. This workshop will help diplomats identify the relationship between Vienna’s working agenda and the emerging breadth of the Security Council's agenda including climate change, terrorism, organized crime, illegal drugs, the role of the private sector in civil wars providing them with a deeper understanding of the inter-institutional interaction and cooperation with regard to the Vienna-based programmes and organisations.
Representatives from various major Vienna-based international organisations (IAEA, OPEC, UNODC, CTBTO, UNIDO, OSCE, etc.) will also be present in order to share their experiences in this matter and provide their own insight thanks to a series of roundtable discussions and question and answer sessions throughout the workshop.
After this workshop you will be able to:
- Understand the enhanced inter-sectoral nature of our global security agenda and of the UN Security Council's needs to relate its concerns with the responsibilities of other organs, programmes and organisations;
- Enhance the Vienna-based policy-making capacities of pertinence to the responsibilities of the UN Security Council;
- Gain a better understanding of the needs and options of Security Council reform in the context of the basic principles of the international system as articulated in the UN Charter and the administrative sciences.
The workshop will be facilitated by Ambassador Walther Lichem. The Ambassador started his career at the United Nations Secretariat in New York (UN Centre for Natural Resources, Energy and Transport with field missions to Ethiopia, Argentina and to the Senegal River Development Organisation (1966-1974, 1980). After joining the Austrian diplomatic service he served as Consul General in Ljubljana, SR Slovenia (1976-1980), and as Ambassador to Chile (1980-1984) and to Canada (1993-2000).
At the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Vienna he was Director of the Department of International Organisations dealing with United Nations reform, peacekeeping, the Security Council, international development cooperation and with societal development i.a. serving as Chair of the European North/South campaign, as rapporteur on Human Rights, Democracy and Development to the World Conference on Human Rights, as president of the European association of space agencies (EURISY) and as president of Interpress Service (IPS).
He has also taught about the United Nations and Global Governance i.a. at the Vienna Diplomatic Academy and at the University of Alberta. He recently served as a legal consultant to UNIDO/UNEP project on the creation of a marine and coastal resource protection organisation for the Guinea Current co-ecosystem countries in Africa.
Featured speakers will include:
- CTBTO (Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive on Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization) - Mr. Jean Du Preez, Chief of External Relations, Protocol and International Cooperation
- IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency - Ms Margrit Friedrich, External Relations Officer
- OSCE (Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe) - Mr. Ian Mitchell, Head, External Co-operation, Office of the Secretary General at Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
- UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) - Mr. Cormac O’Reilly, Strategic Planning Officer
H.E. Walther Lichem will provide his own expertise on the needed decision-making interaction between the Un Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) and the Security Council with regards to the issue of asteroid threat mitigation operations, based on his membership in the International Panel on Asteroid Threat Mitigation of the Association of Space Explorers.
This workshop provides a simple, user-friendly methodology. The sessions will be combining short presentations, case studies, video analysis and discussion groups.
This workshop primarily targets members of Permanent Missions accredited to the United Nations Office in Vienna and other international or regional organisations, funds and programmes who wish to familiarise themselves in a concise and intensive manner with the inter-institutional relatedness of the responsibilities of these organisations. Staff members of the Vienna-based international organisations and programmes are also welcome.
UNITAR reserves the right to make a selection among candidates. The selected candidates are requested to regard their participation as a firm commitment and to attend the course in its entirety.
Participants from Least Developed Countries (LDC) are eligible to apply for a fee-waiver fellowship. Discounts will be offered for group bookings.
The workshop will take place at the Vienna International Center, in room F0822.