Highlights of Security Council Practice 2023

Meetings

Meetings of the Security Council are governed by Article 28 of the Charter of the United Nations, and rules 1-5 and 48 of its Provisional Rules of Procedure. Under its current practice, the Council convenes meetings, which are classified as either public or private. Council members also frequently meet in informal consultations of the whole (also known as consultations).

In terms of gender, in 2023, except for the representatives of other entities, such as non-governmental organizations and civil society, all other categories of invitees under rule 39 registered similar trends with respect to 2022. Of the 272 invitations extended to UN system officials, 154 (or 56.6 per cent) were to men and 118 (or 43.4 per cent) to women. Of the 84 invitations extended to officials representing regional intergovernmental organizations, 69 (or 82 per cent) were to men and 15 (or 18 per cent) to women, similar to the trends observed under this category in 2022. Of the 13 invitations extended to international organizations other than the UN, seven (or 54 per cent) were to men and six (or 46 per cent) to women. Of the 110 invitations extended to representatives of other entities, such as non-governmental organizations and civil society, 55 (or 50 per cent) were extended to men and 55 (or 50 per cent) to women, a significant decrease with respect to the percentage of women under this category in 2022.

Missions

Article 34 of the Charter of the United Nations provides that the Security Council may investigate any dispute or any situation which may lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute. Missions of Council members to the field have taken place since 1964.

Agenda

In accordance with rule 11 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure and presidential note of 30 August 2017 (S/2017/507), every January, the Council reviews the list of matters of which it is seized. Agenda items which have not been considered at a Council meeting in the preceding three years are deleted, unless a Member State requests that an item be retained on the list. In the latter case, an item will remain on the list for an additional year, unless the Council decides otherwise, and will be subject to the same procedure described above if not considered by the Council during that subsequent year.

In 2023, the Council considered a total of 47 agenda items compared to 49 agenda items addressed in 2022. Out of the 47 agenda items, 25 addressed country-specific or regional situations and 22 thematic and other issues. In 2023, the Council deleted the items entitled “The situation in Burundi” and “The situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela” from its agenda, as described in the summary statement by the Secretary-General.

For further details, explore section V of the Annex and Charts 8 and 9 below.

In 2023, for the first time since February 2019 (see S/2019/1015), Council members did not agree on the adoption of the provisional programme of work for the months of August and September, instead of which the Presidents for those months circulated informal “plans of work”.

In 2023, 86 formal meetings (29.6 per cent) were held under agenda items of a thematic or cross-cutting nature. Among those meetings, most were held in connection with "Threats to international peace and security” and “Maintenance of international peace and security”. Of the meetings held in connection with “Threats to international peace and security”, which accounted for one third of all thematic meetings, most were focused on the war in Ukraine.

In 2023, the Council adopted 50 resolutions and six presidential statements.

In 2023, the Council also failed to adopt 10 draft resolutions (and four sets of amendments related thereto), most of which were in connection with “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”, while the remaining ones concerned the following items: “Threats to international peace and security”, “The situation in the Middle East” and “The situation in Mali”. By way of comparison, in 2022, the Council failed to adopt a total of seven draft resolutions.

In accordance with General Assembly resolution 76/262 of 26 April 2022, the Council submitted six special reports to the Assembly in 2023, after the casting of a veto by a permanent member.

In 2023, further to the discussions held in the context of the Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions, the Council issued three new notes by the President in connection with the working methods of the Council: S/2023/612 concerning the observance of minutes of silence, S/2023/615 concerning the appointment of the Chairs of the subsidiary bodies, and S/2023/945 concerning penholdership.

In 2023, the Council issued 22 letters by the President, compared to 27 in 2022. Most of those letters concerned the appointment of senior UN officials, while other topics included, inter alia, terms of reference of Council missions, as well as one decision on the extension of the mandate of UNOWAS.

For further details on decisions, explore Chart 11 below.

In 2023, procedural matters were put to a vote on three occasions, compared to two such instances in 2022. In March, at a meeting held under the item “Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine”, the Council voted on the proposal to invite a briefer under rule 39 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure, which was not adopted, having failed to receive the required number of votes (see S/PV.9286). In July, the Council held two procedural votes. On 6 July, the proposal to invite the representative of Ukraine under rule 37 to participate in the meeting on “Non-proliferation” was put to a vote and agreed upon by 12 votes in favour (see S/PV.9367). On 26 July, the proposal to invite a civil society briefer in accordance with rule 39 to participate in the meeting on “Threats to international peace and security” was also put to a vote and failed to obtain the required number of votes (see S/PV.9385).

For further details, see Chart 12.

A Council member or any other Member State, whether Council member or not, that directly submits a draft resolution is referred to as a sponsor or co-sponsor. A draft resolution co-sponsored by all Council members is referred to as a “presidential text”. In 2023, no presidential text was adopted, as was the case the year prior, in contrast to six presidential texts adopted in 2021. In 2023, among the adopted resolutions that were open to co-sponsorship, the two that recorded the highest number of co-sponsors were resolution 2681 (2023), regarding the status of women and girls in Afghanistan, totalling 91 Member States, including 13 Council members; and resolution 2698 (2023), renewing the authorizations to intercept vessels off the Libyan coast suspected of migrant smuggling and human trafficking, co-sponsored by 29 Member States. Among the draft resolutions that were not adopted and were open to co-sponsorship, draft resolution S/2023/970, which would have demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, received the support of 102 Member States, but failed to be adopted due to a veto cast by a permanent member. Similarly, draft resolution S/2023/772, which would have called for an immediate, durable and fully respected humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, recorded a total of 26 co-sponsors among the Member States.

For further details, see Chart 14 below.

In 2023, the Council continued its practice of including provisions on cross-cutting issues, namely the protection of civilians in armed conflict (POC), women and peace and security (WPS) and children and armed conflict (CAAC), in its resolutions and presidential statements relating to country-specific or regional situations. In 2023, the Council adopted 45 resolutions and presidential statements relating to country-specific or regional situations, 31 of which contained one or more provisions on POC (69 per cent); 23 of which contained one or more provisions on WPS (51 per cent); and 15 of which contained one or more provisions on CAAC (33 per cent), continuing the downward trend since 2021.

For further details, explore Chart 16 below.

Additional information is available in the CAAC, POC and WPS interactive dashboards prepared by the Security Council Affairs Division.

In 2023, out of a total of 50, the Council adopted 25 resolutions explicitly under Chapter VII of the Charter, 17 of which concerned the African continent. Resolutions adopted under Chapter VII were mainly related to the renewal of sanctions regimes, mandates of United Nations peacekeeping operations and the authorization of operations led by regional arrangements. In addition, in October, the Council authorized the deployment of a Multinational Security Support mission to Haiti to support the Haitian National Police to re-establish security in the country. Nine of the 25 resolutions adopted under Chapter VII received non-unanimous support, primarily concerning the renewal of sanctions regimes.

For further details, explore section IX of the Annex and Chart 17 below.

Subsidiary Bodies

Article 29 of the Charter provides that the Council may establish such subsidiary organs as it deems necessary for the performance of its functions. This is also reflected in Rule 28 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure.

Throughout its history, the Council has established a wide variety of subsidiary organs, such as committees, working groups, investigative bodies, tribunals, ad hoc commissions, as well as peacekeeping and special political missions and sanctions committees, and their mandate can range from procedural matters to substantive ones.

In 2023, the Council adopted decisions concerning the mandate of nine sanctions committees and 10 monitoring groups, teams and panels of experts that support the work of 11 of the 14 sanctions committees. The Council did not renew the measures in connection with Mali, thereby effectively terminating the measures initially imposed in 2017, as well as the mandate of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 2374 (2017) and its Panel of Experts. The Council also decided to fully lift the arms embargo measures concerning Somalia, which had been initially imposed in 1992. At the same time, the Council renewed the existing sanctions measures with a focus on Al-Shabaab. Concerning the investigative bodies established by the Council, the mandate of UNITAD was extended until September 2024 only, in line with the request from the Government of Iraq (S/2023/654).

Security Council Committees and Working Groups met a cumulative number of 126 times in 2023, in the context of both formal and informal meetings, as well as briefings, including joint briefings to Member States. For further details, explore Chart 18 below.

In 2023, a total of 676 individuals and 193 entities were subject to United Nations targeted sanctions and restrictive measures such as asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. A consolidated list containing the names of the individuals and entities subject to United Nations targeted measures is also available on the Security Council website. In 2023, 10 individuals and one entity were added to the list. The charts below illustrate the number of listed individuals and entities for each sanctions committee as well as those added in 2023. Information on each committee, including individuals and entities designated by the relevant committee and the applicable sanctions measures, as well as the procedures for the processing of listing and delisting requests can be found on the Security Council website. For further details, explore Chart 20 below.

The chart below shows the number of Council resolutions extending the mandate of subsidiary bodies of the Council per month over the last five years. For further details, explore section X of the Annex.