United Nations Security Council

The Office of the Special Envoy for Syria (OSE-S) is mandated by Security Council Resolution 2254 (2015) . If you wish to read more about the UN-OSE Syria mandate, please see here.

 

OSE-Syria Briefings

As the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen regularly briefs the Security Council on his work as mandated by Resolution 2254. In this way, he reports on progress, challenges, outcomes of meeting to the Security Council and its president. If he is not able to do so, his Deputy Special Envoy, Khawla Matar, delivers the briefing.

All Syria-related briefings before the UN Security Council can be found here.


Resolutions

UN resolutions are formal expressions of the opinion or will of UN organs. A UN Security Council resolution is a UN resolution adopted by the fifteen members of the Security Council.

A draft resolution on non-procedural matters is adopted if nine or more of the fifteen Council members vote for the resolution, and if it is not vetoed by any of the five permanent members. Resolutions by the Security Council are legally binding.

For an overview of all UN Security Council Resolutions on Syria, click here.


Function of the Security Council

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is comprised of 15 members, whereby 5 are permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These 5 members each have veto right.

The Security Council has primary responsibility under the United Nations Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security.

It is for the Security Council to determine when and where a UN peace operation should be deployed. The Security Council responds to crises around the world on a case-by-case basis and it has a range of options at its disposal.

The Security Council establishes a peace operation by adopting a Security Council resolution. The resolution sets out that mission’s mandate and size.

The Security Council monitors the work of UN peace operations on an ongoing basis, including through periodic reports from the Secretary-General and by holding dedicated Security Council sessions to discuss the work of specific operations.

The Security Council can vote to extend, amend, or end mission mandates as it deems appropriate.

Under Article 25 of the UN Charter, all UN members agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council. While other organs of the UN make recommendations to Member States, the Council alone has the power to take decisions which Member States are obligated to implement.