Security Council Report

The Security Council Report was established in 2005 to provide timely, accurate, and objective information and analysis on the activities of the United Nations Security Council. The vision for the Report stems from the belief that the lack of consistent, high-quality public information about the Council's activities-and those of its subordinate bodies-is a real barrier to the effective performance of the Council itself and a major disservice to the public. Since its commencement just over five years ago, the Report has consistently published monthly briefings on the issues on the Council's agenda; e-alerts regarding emerging issues or developing situations; in-depth analyses of Council decisions, processes, or practice; and reports that track the Council's performance on decision follow-through. All of these materials are read by the elected members of the Security Council (the Report's primary audience) and provide more equal access to information, which is crucial to more effective performance. The Report's secondary audience includes stakeholders interested in the Council's work, such as the UN Secretariat, NGOs, and the wider UN membership.

The vision for Security Council Report (SCR) stems from the belief that the lack of consistent, high quality, publicly-available information about the Council's activities—and those of its subordinate bodies—is a consistent barrier to the effective performance of the Council itself as well as constituting a major handicap for the member states at large, and the wider public. SCR seeks to overcome this barrier by establishing an independent professional capacity, supported by a first-rate research staff, to provide timely, accurate, and objective information and analysis on the activities of the Security Council. It publishes regular reports on the Council's existing and prospective agenda, supplemented by ad hoc Update Reports on breaking news. SCR was founded in 2004 with the support of the Canadian and Norwegian governments, the Rockefeller Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Unfortunately, it has not diversified its funding in any significant way during that time and recently learned that one of its principal donors will be ending its support. With this OE grant, SCR would hire a fundraising development services and strategic consulting group to help develop a fundraising strategy. While a strategic fundraising plan will hopefully provide a solution to address the impending revenue gap, we envision it being, more importantly, a mechanism to help SCR build a more systematic approach to fundraising and shore up its long-range funding stream.