Term length One month Formation 17 January 1946 | Inaugural holder Norman Makin | |
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Appointer United Nations Security Council Website www.un.org/en/sc/presidency | ||
The President of the United Nations Security Council is the presiding officer of that body.The president is the head of the delegation from the Security Council member state that holds the rotating presidency.
Contents
Selection
Article 30 of the United Nations Charter states that the Security Council is empowered to establish rules of procedure, "including the method of selecting its President". The Security Council has established the following method of selecting the president: the presidency rotates monthly among the state members of the Security Council. The rotation takes place in alphabetical order of the member states' official United Nations names in English. All members of the Council, including the President, must present credentials issued by either the head of state, the head of government, or the minister of foreign affairs of their respective states to the Secretary-General, except if the representative is also the head of government or minister of foreign affairs.
Identity
The Permanent Representative (ambassador) of the state that holds the presidency is usually the president of the Council, but if an official from the state who is higher in authority than the Permanent Representative (such as a foreign minister, prime minister, or head of state) is present in the Council, the higher official is the president. For example, in January 2000, a month in which the United States held the presidency of the Security Council, U.S. Vice President Al Gore headed the United States delegation to the United Nations for a few days. As a result, Gore was the President of the Security Council during this time.
Role
The role of president of the Security Council involves calling the meetings thereof, approving the provisional agenda (proposed by the Secretary-General), presiding at its meetings, and overseeing any crisis. The president is authorized to issue both Presidential Statements (subject to consensus among Council members) and notes, which are used to make declarations of intent that the full Security Council can then pursue. The President also usually speaks to the press on behalf of the Security Council.
List
Below is a chronological list of presidents of the UN Security Council and the states that they represented.
1946–49
Presidents from 1946–49:
1950–54
Presidents from 1950–54:
1955–59
Presidents from 1955–59:
1960–64
Presidents from 1960–64:
1965–69
Presidents from 1965–69:
1970–74
Presidents from 1970–74:
1975–79
Presidents from 1975–79:
1980–84
Presidents from 1980–84:
1985–89
Presidents from 1985–89:
1990–94
Presidents from 1990–94:
1995–99
Presidents from 1995–99:
2000–04
Presidents from 2000–04: