Kelly Knight Craft, the US envoy to the UN, leads the Security Council in December. She said she wanted to restore “credibility” to the Council. MARK GARTEN/UN PHOTO
GLASGOW, Kentucky — “There’s no place like home for the holidays” is the United States’ theme for the Security Council presidency in December, while at the same time, in a slight contradiction, the US wants to tackle the problem of the Council’s credibility.
Ambassador Karen Pierce of Britain in the Security Council with Riyad Mansour, center, Palestine’s envoy to the UN, May 15, 2018. Britain’s theme for its Council presidency is the effects of conflict on ordinary people, not a controversial issue. ESKINDER DEBEBE/UN PHOTO
Ambassador Jerry Matthews Matjila of South Africa speaking to reporters outside the UN Security Council, Oct. 9, 2019. As president of the Council for the month, he is taking its members on a trip to Ethiopia and South Sudan. STEPHANIE FILLION
Dmitry Polyanskiy, the deputy permanent representative of Russia to the UN, photographed at the Russian mission, in Manhattan. Polyanskiy was interviewed in August on how his country would lead the UN Security Council in September and on Russian-US relations. STEPHANIE FILLION
Joanna Wronecka, Poland’s ambassador to the UN, is president of the Security Council in August. She is known in the UN for speaking Arabic fluently, drawing admiration from that community of diplomats and reporters. Besides Polish, she also speaks English, French and German. DULCIE LEIMBACH
Even though many people think of August as vacation time, Joanna Wronecka, Poland’s ambassador to the United Nations, is not taking off anytime soon, as she is presiding over the Security Council for the month.
Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, Peru’s ambassador to the UN since 2013. His country has been representing the Latin America and Caribbean region on the Security Council for the last year and a half, but it is Colombia and its young peace pact that his delegation is most focused on as president of the Council in July 2019.
Mansour Al-Otaibi, Kuwait’s ambassador to the UN, in his office in New York. He is leading the monthly rotating Security Council presidency in June for his country’s last time in this role for what could be decades. STÉPHANIE FILLIONGeopolitically, Kuwait’s plate is nearly full for its Security Council presidency in June, with rising tensions with Iran to mediate and the American-led peace plan for Palestine and Israel possibly unveiled, although that appears to be more unlikely by the day.
Dian Triansyah Djani, Indonesia’s ambassador to the UN, wearing a traditional batik shirt from his country. He said the main desire of his country as an elected member of the UN Security Council is simple: to save as many lives as possible while trying to make peacekeeping as highly efficient as possible.
Christoph Heusgen, Germany’s ambassador to the UN and rotating president of the Security Council for April, introduced a German-made hourglass in Council meetings to keep speeches to five minutes each. The Russian ambassador asked in one instance that the timer be laid flat when he spoke. ESKINDER DEBEBE/UN PHOTO
François Delattre, left, the French ambassador to the UN and president of the Security Council for March, with Christoph Heusgen, Germany’s UN ambassador and president of the Council in April. They presented the agenda of the Council’s first twin presidencies to the media on March 1, 2019.
