Sweden as an Elected Member of the UN Security Council

The report analyzes Sweden's 2017–2018 term on the UN Security Council, examining how a small state can influence the body's outcomes regarding Women, Peace and Security (WPS). It details Sweden's strategic approach—rooted in its feminist foreign policy—to move WPS from a thematic 'add-on' to 'core Council business' by integrating actionable language into regular resolutions, particularly those concerning peacekeeping and political mission mandates. The authors provide a framework for assessing the impact of elected members (E10) through criteria of frequency, clarity, and priority of resolution language, while outlining the tactical maneuvering required to navigate P5 power dynamics and UNSC working methods.

• Sweden's primary objective during its 2017–2018 UNSC term was to ensure that Women, Peace and Security (WPS) became "core Council business," shifting the focus from normative thematic development to the practical implementation of existing decisions.
• Sweden's WPS strategy was explicitly linked to its feminist foreign policy, which aimed to strengthen women's rights, increase their access to resources, and improve their representation.
• To operationalize its goals, Sweden focused on improving the language in regular UNSC outcomes, specifically targeting mandates for peacekeeping operations and political missions to move from generic statements to actionable language.
• Sweden utilized its UNSC presidency in July 2018 to advance the practice of inviting women from civil society organizations as briefers, achieving a complete male/female balance of briefers for the first time.
• The report identifies five types of effects an elected member (E10) can seek in the UNSC: raising visibility, championing new thematic resolutions, reshaping working methods, strengthening sanction criteria, and promoting integration into regular resolutions and statements.
• Sweden successfully introduced special listing criteria for sexual violence into UN sanctions regimes for Libya, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic.
• Quantitative analysis of resolutions from 2016 to 2019 shows a slight increase in the percentage of resolutions containing WPS references starting in late 2017, with a notable increase in references to participation and gender mainstreaming relative to protection.
• Despite increased frequency, the report finds that most WPS language in resolutions remains generic and lacks specific, actionable tasks, often appearing in the preamble rather than the operative sections.
• Sweden's effectiveness was bolstered by high-level political backing and the personal credibility of Foreign Minister Margot Wallström, who had previously served as the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict.
• Sweden emphasized the importance of the Informal Expert Group (IEG) on WPS over Arria Formula Meetings to prioritize an integrative approach over a campaign-driven one.

APA

Sellström, A. M., Wallensteen, P., Finbakk, I., Olsson, L., Chang, P., & Tryggestad, T. L. (2021). Sweden as an Elected Member of the UN Security Council. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/183474d6-2990-4c2f-9bf9-a6b9a58b8dbc/Olsson et al - Sweden as an Elected Member of the UN Security Council PRIO Paper 2021.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Sellström, Angela Muvumba, Peter Wallensteen, Ingebjørg Finbakk, Louise Olsson, Patty Chang, and Torunn L. Tryggestad. Sweden as an Elected Member of the UN Security Council. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2021. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/183474d6-2990-4c2f-9bf9-a6b9a58b8dbc/Olsson et al - Sweden as an Elected Member of the UN Security Council PRIO Paper 2021.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{sellstrm2021sweden, author = {Sellström, Angela Muvumba and Wallensteen, Peter and Finbakk, Ingebjørg and Olsson, Louise and Chang, Patty and Tryggestad, Torunn L.}, title = {{Sweden as an Elected Member of the UN Security Council}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2021}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/183474d6-2990-4c2f-9bf9-a6b9a58b8dbc/Olsson et al - Sweden as an Elected Member of the UN Security Council PRIO Paper 2021.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }