The UN Security Council elections will be held on the 8th of June less than a month away, South Africa and Germany are hot candidates to become non-permanent members for 2019/2020. Both countries served on the UN Security Council together in 2011/2012. What better time and place to look at past achievements of South Africa and Germany in the UN and the way ahead? With conflicts and crises from DRC, Mali and Burundi to North Korea and Syria, from questions of Security Council reform to peacekeeping and sustaining peace – controversial and complex issues are plenty. This roundtable discussion explores the responsibilities and challenges that both countries will face in the UN and beyond.
Ambassador Dr. Patricia Flor is Germany’s Director-General for International Order, the United Nations and Arms Control. Having served at Germany’s permanent mission to the UN, Ambassador Flor chaired the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York before moving on to becoming Germany’s ambassador to Georgia. In 2010 Ambassador Flor was appointed Director for Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia at the Federal Foreign Office and from 2012 to 2014 held the position of EU Special Representative for Central Asia. From 2014 to 2015 Ambassador Flor served as Director-General for the United Nations and Global issues. In March 2015 Ambassador Flor was appointed Federal Government Commissioner for Disarmament and Arms Control as well as Director-General for International Order, the United Nations and Arms Control at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin.
Discussant: Dr Malte Brosig, Associate Professor of International Relations, University of the Witwatersrand