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Mr Chairman
First may I congratulate Ambassador Paulette Bethel and Ambassador Frank Majoor on becoming the Vice Chairs of this group and thank them for the consultations they have undertaken in the last few months. I welcome their report on those consultations and wish them well for the work ahead of us, as Security Council reform is a very important element in the wider reform agenda. It is also one of the more difficult and this meeting is a timely stock take of where we are on the issues of expansion and working methods and where we now want to focus our work.
Transparency
As we are all too well aware, the volume and scope of the Council’s agenda continues to grow, making transparency and outreach in its proceedings more important than ever. Given the far-reaching implications of Council decisions, it is imperative that the Membership understands what decisions are being taken in the Council, and why.
We should acknowledge that improvements have been made in recent years. The Council has become more open in many of its dealings. There are more open briefings, and they happen at an earlier stage in the evolution of an issue. Consultations with NGOs have improved, and there has also been an effort to improve the dialogue with troop contributing countries. But, we must not fall into the trap of believing that any change in process automatically equates to a better method of working. For example, in our view, the introduction of meetings with troop contributing countries, although originally intended to enable their timely involvement in Council decisions, has in practice resulted in an overly formal and prescriptive process. We need further change to encourage collective decision-making and meaningful debate, not lengthy statements of national positions. It has been said many times that reform is a process rather than an event - we must continually ask ourselves whether these sorts of achieved changes are producing the results we seek.
Ongoing process
Our challenge remains to find new ways that allow the Council to do its work quickly and efficiently, and that at the same time give Member States greater confidence in the Council’s decisions. We have pursued this search in an on-going process over many years and believe it continues to fall to non-members of the Council as much as members to identify shortcomings and suggest practical and specific improvements.
Draft resolution on working methods
In this regard, we welcome the resolution on improving working methods tabled by Switzerland, Costa Rica, Jordan, Singapore and Liechtenstein. The resolution picks up many of the concerns we have raised and puts them forward in a constructive and coherent package. We hope the S5 contribution will stimulate a productive debate among members and non-members alike, about what priority we attach to each measure and what our next steps should be. It is useful for us all to examine specific recommendations with a view to furthering their practical implementation. For example, it would be timely to consider the capacity of member states to fulfil obligations imposed by Council resolutions.
Security Council expansion
Finally, Mr Chairman, a word on Security Council expansion. At the World Summit, leaders supported early reform of the Security Council, and New Zealand has welcomed their commitment to achieve a decision on this issue. We continue to aspire to a Security Council that is more broadly representative, effective, and transparent. We have not taken a position on how this should happen, but we do believe that any expansion of the Security Council must include Japan.
Thank you Mr Chairman.
