Security Council

Under the United Nations Charter, Security Council functions and powers include maintenance of international peace and security in accordance with the principles and purposes of the United Nations, and as such, may take military action against an aggressor.

The geospatial services liaise closely with the Security Council Affairs Division to provide geospatial and cartographic support to the daily work of the Council, especially during its informal meetings and at times to support the preparation of Council missions to countries and regions of concern.

In the context of Security Council public or closed consultations, cartographic support facilitates the visualization of the deployment of peacekeepers. Peacekeeping deployment maps are produced as official maps of the United Nations and are integral parts of the Secretary-General's reports to the Security Council for mission mandates.

These deployment maps reflect the latest status of military or police deployments in peacekeeping missions or special political missions by troop contribution, police contribution or military observers of United Nations Member States. Deployment maps are prepared in consultation with the Secretariat and the respective field missions.

Custom cartographic support visualizing security threats or trend analysis, or satellite imagery may also be requested by the Security Council.

Sanctions Committees are one of the mechanisms used by the Security Council to monitor the implementation of the sanction’s regimes. Panels of Experts support the Sanctions Committees by providing substantive work and reports related to investigation, research and monitoring of the implementation of sanctions.

In this context and in coordination with the Security Council Affairs Division, geospatial services have been provided to the Panels of Experts in support of their investigations and monitoring of the implementation of sanctions measures. Earth observation tools and satellite imagery intelligence are used to complement and substantiate the findings and provide evidence based on their needs and expertise such as on non-proliferation, threats and security, nuclear issues, armed groups, natural resources, humanitarian and human rights violations.

For more information, consult the section on Sanctions Committees and Panels of Experts to the Security Council.

The following is a list of pages with links in the final annual reports of the Panels of Experts with products assisted by Geospatial Information Section (GIS) since 2012: