Peace Palace

Netherlands in UN Security Council 2018

News item | 12-03-2018

The membership of the Netherlands of the UN Security Council in 2018 was launched with a kick-off ceremony on 22 December in the Great Hall of Justice of the Peace Palace in The Hague. Peace, justice and development are the central themes that the Netherlands will work on during its membership. The keynote speaker of the ceremony was Secretary-General António Guterres of the United Nations.

Watch the speeches of UN Secretary-General Guterres and the Dutch ministers Zijlstra and Kaag here:

Secretary-General António Guterres of the United Nations gave a keynote speech in which he addressed the most important issues and challenges in the world in the upcoming year and how he hopes that the Netherlands will contribute to facing these challenges. Dutch ministers Halbe Zijlstra of Foreign Affairs and Sigrig Kaag of Foreign Trade and Development spoke about the plans and priorities of the Netherlands as non-peramenent member of the UN Security Council in 2018.

What is the UN Security Council
The Security Council is one of the most important decision-making organs of the United Nations. It is specifically responsible for international peace and justice. The UN Security Council consists of 15 countries, of which 5 are permanent members: China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and United States. The other 10 members are differing over time. Which ten other countries are in the UN Security Council is decided by voting in the General Assembly of the United Nations in which all countries can vote. During the last of these elections, the Peace Palace was prominently used in the campaign of the Netherlands. In 2018, the Netherlands will be a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Other non-permanent members in 2018 are Boliva, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan and Sweden.