Brazil's 7 priorities in the Security Council - 2022-2023

During its 2022-23 term in the UNSC, the Brazilian government will continue to support the Security Council’s role in the prevention and resolution of threats to international peace and security, always in accordance with the purposes and principles established by the Charter of the United Nations and with respect for the sovereignty of all nations. Additionally, it is committed to maintaining, to the best of its abilities, an effective contribution to the United Nations peacekeeping missions.

In 2022 and 2023, Brazil’s participation in the Security Council will be guided by the following priorities: “Preventing and Pacifying”; “Efficient Peacekeeping”; “Humanitarian Response and Promotion of Human Rights”; “Advancement of Women, Peace and Security Agenda”; “Coordination with the Peacebuilding Commission”; “Collaboration with Regional Organizations”; and “For a More Representative and Effective Security Council”.

Preventing and Pacifying

Brazil’s participation in the Security Council (2022-2023) will promote the defense of the basic principles of the Charter of the United Nations, which include the resolute defense of fundamental freedoms, the respect of human dignity, and the prevalence of human rights, in order to build a genuine and lasting peace, based on the pillars of democracy and justice.

In both his speeches before the United Nations General Assembly, President Jair Bolsonaro recalled that Brazil embraces these values not only due to tradition, but also due to a constitutional mandate, as they are part of its Constitution along with other principles of similar purpose that govern its international relations. He also emphasized the Brazilian government’s strong support of the United Nations, with a view towards a world where the States respect each other and national governments satisfy the demands of all its citizens.

With this in mind, Brazil will employ mediation, preventive diplomacy, and its role as peacebuilder as the main tools to prevent crises from escalating to conflicts, as well as to ensure peacebuilding efforts resulting from agreements monitored by the United Nations are successful.

Efficient Peacekeeping 

Brazil has a solid record of contributions to the UN peacekeeping operations and special political missions. Over the last 70 years, it took part in more than 50 peacekeeping missions, with over 55 thousand military and police personnel deployed. It has led the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for thirteen uninterrupted years, as well as the Maritime Task Force of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for almost ten years.

It is also important to note Brazil’s involvement in the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), where it leads the military component and where a mobile training team specialized in jungle warfare provides training for troops of third-party countries deployed to the Mission. Moreover, Brazil has hosted UN training courses and helped to train troops of several countries.

Once elected, Brazil will advocate for permanent compliance with the basic premises of UN peacekeeping operations: the existence of a peace to be kept, the consent of the parties, and the use of force as a last resort. It will defend, in this regard, the approval of mandates that corroborate the interdependence between security and development and conflict prevention. It will also ensure that such mandates are realistic, clear, and consistent with the means and resources available for peacekeeping missions.

Humanitarian Response and Promotion of Human Rights 

Brazil will continue to advocate the strict respect for International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, with utmost attention to the individual freedoms and fundamental guarantees, both by the parties to armed conflicts and by the Security Council in the adoption of sanctions and other measures to support international peace and security.

Brazil is a member of the Group of Friends on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, where it works to encourage the international community to reduce the impacts of armed conflict on civilian populations. In order to accomplish this mission, the country will remain committed to the protection of vulnerable populations in the context of armed conflict, especially women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

It will favor initiatives related to the education of children and young people, especially refugees and internally displaced persons, and support measures to protect hospitals and guarantee access to medical services. In Brazil’s view, without ever abandoning the essential compass of freedom, these actions must be undertaken with even greater vigor in face of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has, unfortunately, claimed so many lives and generated apprehension regarding the future of the post-coronavirus world.

Advancement of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda 

In 2017, Brazil launched its first National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, which was extended for four additional years in 2019. For two consecutive years, in 2019 and 2020, Brazilian blue helmets were awarded by the UN for their work at the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). Commanders Márcia Braga and Carla Araújo are proof of the excellence of the training offered to the troops by the Brazilian Armed Forces and of the benefits achieved by the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in UN peacekeeping missions.

In its mandate, Brazil will promote the recognition of the women, peace and security agenda as a practical application of the relationship between peacekeeping and peacebuilding. It will also employ its credentials as a country that contributes with troops recognized for their discipline to assist in the fight against sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA). As a staunch supporter of the UN’s “zero tolerance” policy, Brazil believes that its experience in prevention and training will provide effective formulas to solve this problem.

Coordination with the Peacebuilding Commission 

Brazil is actively involved in the debate on the strengthening of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture. As a supporter of the creation of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) in 2005, and as Chair in 2014, Brazil promoted the participation of developing countries and African regional and subregional organizations in the activities of the Commission and sought engagement between the PBC and the UNSC.

Brazil defends an integrated approach to conflict prevention and resolution and peacekeeping and peacebuilding. It considers that the UNSC and the PBC must work together whenever possible and supports the assistance that the PBC provides to the UNSC, especially in discussions of renewal of mandates and drawdowns of peacekeeping operations and special political missions.

Since 2007, Brazil has chaired the PBC Guinea-Bissau configuration. The first developing country to hold the position, Brazil has been working in strict cooperation with relevant national actors and regional and international organizations. Upon exercising its mandate, Brazil will advocate that lasting peace does not simply mean the absence of armed conflict, but also requires, in a structural way, the respect for fundamental freedoms and human dignity, including freedom of expression and religious freedom.

Collaboration with Regional Organizations 

Brazil acknowledges the importance of the joint collaboration and planning between the UN and relevant regional organizations.

On the American continent, the country will try to contribute to increase the cooperation and coordination between the UN Security Council and the Organization of the American States (OAS), to the benefit of the international response to the situations in Haiti and Colombia, as well as the tragedy faced by Venezuela. Transnational organized crime is, currently, one of the biggest threats to peace in the continent.

Brazil also supports the African Union (AU) and African subregional organizations in the search for “African solutions to African problems”. In this regard, it emphasizes the importance of enhancing the cooperation between the United Nations Secretariat and the AU Commission, as well as between the UNSC and the AU Peace and Security Council. It also acknowledges the role of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), within which it will continue to work to the benefit of political coordination in order to promote international peace and security.

For a more representative and effective Security Council  

Brazilian credentials are certified by the fulfillment of mandates as a non-permanent member of the Security Council in the 1946-47, 1951-52, 1954-55, 1963-64, 1967-68, 1988-89, 1993-94, 1998-99, 2004-05, and 2010-11 biennia. During these ten mandates, Brazil has always acted in favor of the harmonization of positions between the sovereign nations that compose the Council, especially in highly polarized and divergent situations.

Acknowledging the Council’s prerogative to authorize the use of force, Brazil defends that the body should work in an efficient, transparent, and responsible way, with improved working methods, guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, as well as by the interests of all the Member States of the Organization.

Brazil will maintain its unwavering commitment to the reform of the Security Council. For Brazil, the long overdue reform will represent an essential step for the UNSC to retain its centrality and authority before the multiple and complex challenges to international peace and security in the 21st century, which include the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.