On the occasion of Germany's bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2019/20, KAS welcomed four foreign policy advisers from the German Bundestag and CDU Headquarters to New York between January 21st - January 24th. The delegation discussed the latest developments in the race for the Council seat with representatives from the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations and held talks with UN officials about German engagement at the UN. All delegates support and advise parliamentarians of the German Bundestag and work at the very source of foreign policy-making in Germany.

The 2018 United Nations Security Council election will be held on June 8th 2018 during the 72nd session of the General Assembly. Germany was last a member of the Security Council in 2011/12. The majority of Germany’s past terms on the Council have occurred in eight-year intervals. Germany competes with Belgium and Israel for one of the two seats reserved for the “Western European and Others Group”. To be elected, a country needs to secure the support of two-thirds of the General Assembly which are present and voting (a minimum of 129 votes if all 193 member states participate). With the campaign slogan “Peace, Justice, Innovation & Partnership” Germany seeks to convey its political will for taking on responsibility within the UN system.

Aside from being briefed on all aspects of Germany’s campaign for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, delegates were specifically eager to engage in fruitful discussions about the SDGs, the UN reforms and international security from a UN perspective. These topics were explored during talks with representatives from the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) of the UN Security Council; the Executive Office of the Secretary-General; UNHCR; UNDP; the ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and Taliban Monitoring Team of the UN Security Council; DPKO; representatives from Columbia University; the UN Global Pulse; UNFPA as well as the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR).

The delegates collectively expressed that they intend to communicate their newly collected perceptions to parliamentarians in Berlin, where their observations will hopefully function as helpful insights for German foreign policy-making.