Committee Mandate

The information contained herein shall deal with the mandate of the the United Nations Security Council, an understanding of which is necessary for anyone acting as a delegate in any simulation thereof. A clear understanding of the mandate of a committee that is to be the stage of discussion goes a long way in keeping the debate real and practicable. A committee in the true sense of the term fails only when the people it consists of are unaware of, or forget the purpose of its constitution, which by extension implies a lack of knowledge of its mandate.

The mandate of the United Nations Security Council, is primarily derived from chapter 5, chapter 6 and chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter, a complete breakdown of all the articles contained within these chapters however will not be possible here, so the crux thereof is given hereunder, the same can be found across various sources on the internet, however all delegates are required to go through the relevant provisions of the UN Charter and familiarise themselves with the functions, duties, composition etc of the UNSC.

"All members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council. While other organs of the United Nations make recommendations to member states, only the Security Council has the power to make decisions that member states are then obligated to implement under the Charter."

"When a complaint concerning a threat to peace is brought before it, the Council's first action is usually to recommend that the parties try to reach agreement by peaceful means. The Council may:
set forth principles for such an agreement;
undertake investigation and mediation, in some cases;
dispatch a mission;
appoint special envoys; or
request the Secretary-General to use his good offices to achieve a pacific settlement of the dispute.

When a dispute leads to hostilities, the Council's primary concern is to bring them to an end as soon as possible. In that case, the Council may:
issue ceasefire directives that can help prevent an escalation of the conflict;
dispatch military observers or a peacekeeping force to help reduce tensions, separate opposing forces and establish a calm in which peaceful settlements may be sought.

Beyond this, the Council may opt for enforcement measures, including:
economic sanctions, arms embargoes, financial penalties and restrictions, and travel bans;
severance of diplomatic relations;
blockade;
or even collective military action.

A chief concern is to focus action on those responsible for the policies or practices condemned by the international community, while minimizing the impact of the measures taken on other parts of the population and economy."

In addition to the content provided above the Security Council may also establish subsidiary bodies. This power has been granted to it under Article 29 of the Charter. Instances of the UNSC exercising this power can be found in International Courts and Tribunals namely the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the Counter-Terrorism Committee created in pursuance of UNSC resolutions 1373 (2001) and 1624 (2005), Peacekeeping Missions, the various Sanctions Committees, Standing Committees and Ad Hoc Bodies among many others.

The agenda for this committee is "Inclusive development as means of conflict prevention and maintenance of social, political and economic stability"This may seem rather unconventional for a committee like the Security Council and may not match the delegates perception of what a typical UNSC agenda looks like, primarily because it does not, directly manifest a clear security threat, or a need to resort to enforcement measures.

This agenda is related to the mandate of the UNSC in an indirect manner, it presents a situation wherein the Security Council, instead of acting after a threat to international peace and security has manifested itself, is acting in a preventive manner so as to take into account those threats which have already arisen due to the lack of inclusive development and to stem such threats from arising in the future.

There are currently various situations of denial of equality, liberty, inclusive development etc simmering across the globe which may lead to armed conflicts, or threats to international peace and security. Such denial usually leads to resentment among certain portions of the population of various nations or among nations as a whole, this may lead to internal conflicts, the rise of resistance groups, civil wars, militias, terror outfits and in extreme cases, war. (For instance the harsh conditions of the Treaty of Versailles was a primary motivator for Germany to move towards re-armament. The treaty was more punitive than development oriented, this caused resentment among the masses, which in turn made it easy for the Nazis to overthrow the existing democratic order of the time.) Thus political and social exclusion are usually key factors for relapse into violence, specially within post conflict societies.

Recognising such issues does not mean that the UNSC is required to take on development related responsibilities or seek an expansion of its mandate to that effect, since the General Assembly, Economic and Social Council and the Peacebuilding Commission are better poised to do so, it simply means an analysis of present situations by the UNSC to prevent future threats and deal with the existing ones.

This agenda can be regarded as an attempt to diagnose the problem by the Security Council, a threat analysis of sorts. Following this diagnosis, should the UNSC feel that the corrective action required falls exclusively within its mandate, it may proceed to undertake the same, if it feels that the remedy , in part lies elsewhere, it can recommend other UN bodies to deal with the same.

We hope that the information provided above will help participating delegates develop a clear understanding of the mandate of the UNSC in general and with specific regard to the agenda of this simulation thereof. It is reiterated that it is necessary to go through the relevant provisions of the Charter to further strengthen this understanding.

In case of any doubts which may arise in the process, you are free to email or message any of the members of the executive board of this committee to seek clarity.

Having said that, we hope you have a fruitful experience researching for this conference.