Publication
The Report of the Evaluation of Ireland's term on the UN Security Council 2021-2022
From Department of Foreign Affairs
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Ireland served as an elected member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) between January 2021 and December 2022, the fourth time Ireland was elected by UN members to that position. The UNSC holds primary responsibility within the UN for responding to threats to international peace and security.
In setting out its ambition for the term, Ireland committed to raise the voices of the most vulnerable trapped in conflict, to continue to bring long-term experience in UN Peacekeeping and to be a trusted bridge-builder in multilateral institutions.
Ireland’s tenure on the Council was marked by several significant global events including the COVID-19 pandemic, the USAs withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s subsequent offensive on Kabul, the conflict in Ethiopia and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In 2023, the Department commissioned an evaluation of Ireland’s tenure to independently assess how Ireland performed as a member of the Council against the agenda set out.
The evaluation was conducted between August 2023 and February 2024 by the Evaluation and Audit Unit of the Department working with external evaluation consultants, IOD PARC. The evaluation team held 71 interviews (of which 40 were with external respondents), conducted three focus groups, reviewed 170+ documents and deployed a survey to 149 people.
The report’s findings have been considered in depth by the Department’s officials and management, and were reviewed by the Department’s Audit Committee.
As well as evaluating Ireland’s UNSC term, the report makes recommendations for consideration by the Department when designing and implementing future large scale events.
Evaluation of Ireland’s term on the United Nations Security Council 2021 - 2022
The purpose of the evaluation of Ireland’s term on the Security Council was to provide an independent and rigorous assessment of Ireland’s term, with a focus on the effectiveness of Ireland’s tenure, the coherence with Ireland’s foreign policy objectives, Ireland’s systems and processes for the term, and lessons learned for future initiatives. The evaluation also serves as a mechanism for public accountability.
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