Mr. President;
We reiterate our support for a comprehensive and thorough reform of the Security Council, including its working methods, to make it a transparent, democratic and representative organ.
It is imperative that the Security Council adopts its rules of procedure, so that an end can be put to the "temporariness" that its rules have had since the establishment of this organ. This is indispensable for transparency and the necessary accountability to all United Nations Member States, on behalf of which the Council must act, in conformity with Article 24 of the Charter.
Greater transparency in the work of the Security Council is vital in order to ensure the effective exercise of its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The additional restrictions on the functioning of the Security Council during the pandemic period stress the importance of recognizing the transient nature of the working modalities implemented, only as a response to the exceptional circumstances of the health contingency and not as a precedent for the future work of the Council.
In any circumstances, it should be allowed and ensured that States directly involved in or specially affected by a matter under the Council´s consideration participate in the discussions and decision-making on questions affecting them, as set forth in Article 31 of the UN Charter.
Transparency of informal consultations should also be ensured and minutes of the organ´s informal consultations should be issued. Informal closed-door meetings should be the exception rather than the rule.
To some extent there has been an increase in the number of Security Council open meetings in recent years, including open debates and briefings by the presidencies on the programme of work at the beginning and end of each month.
However, we regret that persistence of the Security Council´s tendency to work in closed meeting formats; to present each year to the rest of the members only basic descriptive information on its work; to adopt decisions without addressing the concerns of non-members States of the organ; and to force action on draft resolutions when there are still considerable differences as to their content and scope.
The concerns raised by several delegations, including our own, when General Assembly resolution 76/262 was adopted, and on the occasion of the activation for the first time of the new mechanism on the veto power explanation, established in accordance with that resolution, should be taken into account. Restrictive and selective approaches to the Charter, which hinder the achievement of a profound reform of the Security Council and its working methods, should not be applied. The lack of special reports regarding the measures to maintain international peace and security, as laid down in Articles 15 and 24 of the UN Charter, is another shortcoming to be overcome.
We support the proposal of various Member States to hold the General Assembly debate on the annual reports of the Security Council at the nearest date to the close of the year, which would allow for a more contextualized analysis of the work of the organ during the period under review. This would require adjusting the timetable for the presentation by the Security Council of such reports, which should be exhaustive and analytical.
Mr. President,
Exclusionary practices must be removed and genuine participation and democratization in the work of the Security Council, including in its decision-making processes, must be ensured.
The expansion of the Security Council should be in the category of both permanent and non-permanent members, to redress the insufficient representation of developing countries.
The veto power should be abolished, but until that happens, the new seats that are created in the category of permanent members, as a result of a comprehensive reform of the Council, should have the same prerogatives and rights as the current ones, including the veto power.
We reemphasize that the veto issue should not be considered separately from the rest of the issues under discussion within the framework of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Security Council reform established by General Assembly decision 62/557. Otherwise, the profound and comprehensive reform of the Security Council that we urgently need could not be achieved.
We call, once again, on the Security Council to adhere to its mandate and stop taking over the functions of other United Nations organs. The Council must stop broadening the scope of the definition of international peace and security to the detriment of the roles and responsibilities of the General Assembly.
Similarly, the selective manipulation of the Security Council's methods and practices to suit political and domination agendas must also cease. Such strategies undermine the role of that body in the preservation of international peace and security, contribute to exacerbating conflicts and divisions and erode the multilateralism, credibility and legitimacy of the United Nations.
Thank you very much.