Slovenia Assumes Presidency of the UN Security Council

SLOVENIA, September 1 - "For the United Nations, September is the most important and always the busiest month, as almost all world leaders gather in New York for the annual General Assembly. During the High-level Week, Slovenia will be conducting an important international debate at the highest level. Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob will chair a special session of the Security Council to discuss the legitimacy, relevance and future of this body, which has clearly failed to find effective solutions to stop the fighting and suffering of the population, especially women and children, in several crises, such as Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan. What leaders' views are on the way forward and how they see the Security Council in the future, and on multilateralism in general. This will be the main event of Slovenia's presidency," said Ambassador Samuel Žbogar, President of the UN Security Council for the month of September. 

Each presidency of the Security Council begins on the first working day of the month with a Permanent Representatives' Breakfast, which will be hosted by Ambassador Samuel Žbogar, Slovenia's representative to the Security Council, at UN Headquarters on 3 September. He will present the monthly work programme, Slovenia's priorities and signature events. The working breakfast will be followed by a regular meeting of political coordinators which will adopt the monthly work programme. Slovenia is represented at these meetings by Political Coordinator Klemen Ponikvar. After the formal adoption of the programme, the new President presents it to the general public and United Nations foreign correspondents at a press conference. The press conference, which will be webstreamed on 3 September 2024 at 19:00 (CEST) at this link, is part of the first working day of the Presidency.

Prime Minister Dr Robert Golob will chair the main debate on the future of SC

The High-level Open Debate on Leadership for Peace on 25 September will be chaired by Prime Minister Dr Golob. The debate, focusing on the future of the Security Council, is organised by the Slovenian Presidency.

Foreign Minister to chair two meetings

On 18 September, Minister Fajon will chair the regular Security Council debate on the situation in Afghanistan, which Slovenia will elevate to the ministerial level, with a focus on the education of women and girls. "Our guiding principle will be that there can be no lasting peace and stability without the full, inclusive and equal participation of women in all spheres of social life," the Minister said.

A day later, she will chair the regular session of the Security Council on the implementation of resolution 2334 on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Slovenia is keen to focus the debate on the Middle East peace process.

On 26 September, on the margins of the leaders' summit, Foreign Minister Fajon will host the annual meeting of the Security Council with the leaders of the League of Arab States in the form of a closed-door interactive dialogue. They will discuss cooperation between the Security Council and the League, in particular in the search for a solution for peace in the Middle East.

One of Slovenia's objectives is to reinvigorate the discussions

Slovenia aims to bring freshness and a new perspective to some of the established discussions in the Security Council, and would like to focus the regular discussion on the situation in Afghanistan on the education of women and girls, and the discussion on Israeli settlements in the West Bank on the Middle East peace process. Following the briefing by the Humanitarian Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, Slovenia wants to steer the debate on reconstruction, and the regular discussion on peacekeeping operations will focus on the peace operations' future and the continued support of the Security Council. In the session on peacekeeping operations, which are at a critical juncture due to challenges to their very existence, Slovenia will allow the wider UN membership to participate (open debate).

Agenda and format of sessions

The agenda or programme of work of the Security Council consists of regular and emergency sessions, as well as the aforementioned special meeting during the High-level Week. At the regular sessions in September, members of the Security Council will discuss, inter alia, the situation in Gaza, Syria, Sudan, Yemen and DR Congo and the future of peacekeeping operations. Slovenia also expects requests for additional sessions on the situation in Ukraine or on the Russian aggression against Ukraine, as well as on Gaza and Sudan, and plans the adoption of resolutions on the extension of the Security Council's sanctions regime in Sudan and on the mandate of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti.

An emergency session may be proposed at any time by any member state of the Security Council – including at the request of a non-member state – in the event of a threat to international peace and security, and it is the responsibility of the state holding the presidency to convene and organise it.

The Security Council meets in open sessions in the form of briefings, or in closed-door sessions in the form of consultations. It may also allow the wider UN membership to participate in the discussions. Slovenia will allow the wider UN membership to participate in discussions on peacekeeping operations and during the High-level Week, when the Prime Minister will chair the session.