Panel discussion to mark Austria’s membership of the UN Security Council (2027–2028) on Wednesday, 18 November 2026, 18:00 - 20:00 at the Diplomatic Academy Vienna.
Background
From January 2027, Austria will serve as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for two years – at a time when the world is characterised by multiple crises and the United Nations itself is undergoing a profound crisis of legitimacy. The Security Council, whose ability to act is constrained by the veto power of its five permanent members, is increasingly failing to fulfil its central task – the maintenance of world peace. At the same time, pressure on the United Nations is increasing: from powerful states such as the US, which are jeopardising the UN’s work through funding cuts; but also from countries in the Global South, which denounce structural injustices within the UN.
This criticism is particularly evident from Africa: the continent is frequently on the Security Council’s agenda, yet does not hold a permanent seat there.
Civil society and feminist actors are calling for the Security Council to ensure the protection of the civilian population and compliance with international law at a time when armed conflicts are at an all-time high.
What priorities has Austria set for its membership of the UN Security Council? What positions and demands are being put forward by African states and civil society actors from the Global South – and what role can and should Austria play to structurally incorporate these voices?
Panel
Caroline Bartel
will coordinate Austria’s membership of the UN Security Council at the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. Previously, she worked, amongst other roles, at the Austrian Mission to the United Nations in New York. From 2023 to 2024, she was seconded to the Swiss Permanent Mission in New York to assist with Austria’s membership of the UN Security Council. Other previous roles include: the Austrian Embassy in Beijing and Deputy European Correspondent at the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs.
Lina Abou-Habib
is the Director of the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University of Beirut, where she leads transformative work on citizenship, civic space, and democratic renewal in the MENA region. With over three decades of leadership across academia, civil society, and global advocacy, she has advanced critical initiatives in public policy, institutional reform, and feminist knowledge production.
She currently serves as Chair of the Doria Feminist Fund and as Secretary of the Urgent Action Fund board. From 2008 to 2012, she was first Secretary and then Chair of the board of AWID (Association for Women’s Rights in Development). Previously, Lina was Executive Director of the Collective for Research and Training on Development–Action and executive director at the Women’s Learning Partnership. She also sits on the editorial committee of Gender & Development, published by Routledge and Oxfam.
Lina has authored over 25 major publications exploring care economies, feminist policy reform, inclusive development, feminist movements, and post-conflict reconstruction. Her writing, advocacy, and expert commentary have been highlighted in international media, UN forums, and academic platforms worldwide.
Angela Muvumba Sellström
is Senior Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI). Her work focuses on the determinants of Africa’s security policies and the gendered dimensions of conflict and peace processes. She. With over 25 years of experience, she has led multiyear projects on sexual violence and armed groups’ wartime behaviour; African and Nordic cooperation in peace and security; and the role of elected members of the UN Security Council. She is currently exploring how global governance and geopolitical competition shape peace and security dynamics.
Dr Muvumba Sellström is also a Visiting Researcher at Uppsala University’s Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Life and Peace Institute (LPI), a Non-resident Fellow at the International Peace Institute (IPI), and an Associate Senior Researcher of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting
has been Director of the Diplomatic Academy of the European Union and the European Union’s Diplomatic Programme for the Enlargement Region since 2026.
He joined the Austrian diplomatic service in 1979 and served as an Austrian diplomat until 2011, worked for the European External Action Service from 2011 to 2019, and served as Special Representative of the OSCE from 2020 to 2024.
During his diplomatic career, Ambassador Mayr-Harting also served as Austria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York (2008 to 2011). His tenure there coincided with Austria’s last term as a member of the UN Security Council (2009 to 2010), during which he represented Austria on the UN Security Council. He subsequently served as the EU Ambassador to the United Nations in New York (2011 to 2015).
Chair
Cathrin Kahlweit
studied politics and Russian at the University of Oregon in the USA, in Tübingen, Göttingen and at the Pushkin Institute in Moscow.
After completing her journalism training, she worked as a freelance journalist for several years before joining the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) in 1989, where she served as domestic affairs editor until 2007. From 2007 to 2008, Cathrin Kahlweit headed the editorial team of the ARD’s ‘Anne Will’ talk show. She then returned to the SZ, where, from 2012 to 2024, she worked as a correspondent based in Vienna, covering Austria, Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the United Kingdom and Ireland. Since leaving the SZ in 2025, she has been working as a freelance journalist, presenter and speaker.
Cathrin Kahlweit has received numerous awards, most recently the 2026 Press Freedom Prize for courage, independence and professional conduct in journalism, awarded by the Association of German Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) and the Media Association of the Free Press (MVFP).