Last week, Clingendael Academy trained the incoming non-permanent members of the UNSC – India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway - in negotiation techniques and tools. It was a special edition as it marked five years since Clingendael Academy and the Permanent Representation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York started this new tradition of a yearly recurring negotiation training to prepare the newly elected members for their time in the UNSC.

This edition was even more extraordinary, because of its digital nature. Instead of traveling to New York, this training was held online over a time-span of 5 days. The training focused on the most important negotiation concepts and tools and directly on applying these concepts and knowledge during several negotiation exercises specifically designed in the context of the UNSC.

Online Negotiation Simulation in the UNSC context

In the last exercise, participants simulated their future UNSC work in an exercise based on the successful attempts by The Netherlands to initiate and adopt a resolution against starvation as a weapon of war. The significance of informal work and building coalitions were vital for success, even in an online environment.

Furthermore, we also included a session on the importance and challenges of cooperation between the capital and the mission in New York in a session facilitated by diplomats from the Kingdom of Netherlands. More best practices and lessons learned were discussed in a session with diplomats who participated in the training in 2019 and who are members of the UNSC in 2020 and 2021.

In general this training provided a digital platform which provided the E5 and E10 to build a network that can strengthen further cooperation in New York and beyond. The positive climate and the active participation as well as the flexibility of the participants made this first online Negotiation Skills training in the context of the UNSC a success. We wish the incoming E5 success with the two years in the UN Security Council and all the upcoming negotiations.