Penholder (United Nations)

In the United Nations Security Council, a penholder is a member with informal responsibility for a particular area of concern.^[1]: 139 Penholders draft resolutions and organize meetings.^[2]: 8–9 They are generally drawn from the P5 (permanent members of the Council) or P3 (US, Britain, and France).^[2]: 8 Penholdership has no formal status.^[2]: 9 It nevertheless is "accepted, however unwillingly, as 'the way things are done' by Council members".^[2]: 9

From 1990, the Secretary General of the United Nations began to convene "Groups of Friends" responsible for particular issues.^[3] Members of the Security Council felt such arrangements did not adequately involve them.^[3] From mid-2000, the council began to designate lead nations on particular situations, both from its elected and permanent members.^[3] From 2008, "penholders" from the P3 "divided most current situations on the agenda among themselves".^[3]

Not all penholders have been permanent members. Germany, an elected member, had acted as penholder on Afghanistan.^[4]: 107 It later jointly held the pen with Britain on Libyan sanctions.^[2]: 18

In 2025, China and the US circulated competing drafts, in a dispute over who should act as penholder on Afghanistan.^[5] Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group suggested that US opposition to a growing role for China as a penholder might disrupt UN diplomacy.^[5]

Penholders exercise substantial informal power over the drafting of resolutions.^[3][1][2][4] Drafts by P3 penholders are typically agreed between them, then with China and Russia (the remaining permanent members with the power of veto), and only then elected members.^{[3][4]: 107} Elected members often refrain from amending resolutions to avoid upsetting consensuses reached between the permanent members.^{[3][4]: 107} Other members of the council typically defer to the penholder.^{[3][4]: 107} Inaction by the penholder can lead to perceived paralysis or delay.^{[3][4]: 107}

Neither Charter of the United Nations nor the council's rules of procedure provide for penholding.^[2]: 9 Deference to penholders "draw[s] from" the veto held by permanent members, although the P3 hold the pen on disproportionately many issues.^[2]: 9

Wu argues that China's lack of participation in the penholding process is "striking",^[6]: 7 but explained by "a lack of incentives, driven by self-imposed constraints…: low priority given China's development-centric strategy, low necessity due to effective communication with the P3, and insufficient diplomatic competence".^[6]: 8 However, Chinese relations with the P3 have worsened since the 2020s,^[6]: 14 and China has increasingly frequently criticised the system.^[6]: 15

Elected members have cooperated to increase their influence in the council, including by pressuring penholders.^[2]: 12 A group of five elected members has made proposals concerning Yemen, and proposed to "take the pen" from Britain.^[2]: 12 A "revolving group of elected members…has taken over penholding for the humanitarian track of the Syrian conflict".^[2]: 12

In 2012, Portugal proposed a formalized rotating penholder system, but the proposal was abandoned due to lack of consensus.^[3] In 2015, six elected members jointly criticized penholdership for giving undue influence to the permanent members.^[1]: 146

Notes by the presidency of the council have tacitly recognized the penholder system, but stated that "any member of the Security Council may be a penholder", that members may share the pen, that penholders should circulate drafts to all members where possible, and that they should consult all members.^[1]: 148

Security Council Report publishes an annual list of penholders.^[7]