Prioritizing, Sequencing, and Streamlining UN Security Council Mandates: Taking Stock of Lessons Learned and Pathways Forward

It summa- mandates, including for the missions in the Central African Republic rizes the main points raised in the (MINUSCA), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), and Mali discussion under the Chatham (MINUSMA), and has tried to improve sequencing.3 House rule of non-attribution and does not necessarily represent the However, several challenges have inhibited the full implementation of. [...] is funded with the support of the These include a lack of a common definition of prioritizing and sequencing, obstacles within the mandating process itself, political dynamics, constraints German Federal Foreign Office and within the Secretariat, and limitations of the budgeting process.4 As a result, the the Swiss Federal Department of extent to which mandates have become more prioritized and seq. [...] Participants also identified MINUSCA at the request of the government of the the budgetary and operational opportunities and Central African Republic improved the relation- risks presented by streamlining mandate language ship between the government and the mission.5 As moving forward. [...] Several participants noted that a key lesson over the past ten years has been the importance of all stake- On the other hand, some experts cautioned against holders, including the host government, the this approach, with one arguing, “Don’t streamline mission, the council, troop- and police- too much to the extent that we remove the ability of contributing countries, and host populations, the miss. [...] For example, one expert noted what role, if any, the council should play in priori- that in South Sudan, climate change has “weakened tizing and sequencing mandates in the future and the vulnerability of the population and exacerbated what decisions should be left to the discretion of the conflict dynamics,” making it critical that the missions.