Briefing Paper

South Africa, Africa and the United Nations Security Council

The Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR), Cape Town, South Africa, hosted a policy advisory group meeting at Erinvale Estate, Western Cape, South Africa, from 13 to 14 December 2011 on “South Africa, Africa, and the United Nations (UN) Security Council”. The meeting took place as South Africa approached the end of the first year of its second two-year term (2011-2012) as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. The seminar focused on: South Africa’s role on the UN Security Council; the relationship between the African Union (AU) and the UN Security Council; and the politics and reform of the Council. It also considered the role of the Security Council in eight case studies: Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Somalia, Sudan’s Darfur region, South Sudan, and Libya.