Issued by Department of Foreign Affairs
17 November 2000
Mr President,
In December 1993, Member States decided unanimously, here in the General Assembly, to review and reform the membership of the Security Council. We did so because we recognised, amongst other things, that the substantial increase in the Membership of the United Nations, especially of developing countries, and profound changes in international relations, necessitated fundamental change. In other words, the UN can no longer pretend that the present composition of the Security Council is representative of all its members.
All member states are fully aware of the importance of the role of the Security Council and the need to reform it so that it may play its role more effectively in the post-Cold War era. We believe that the time has arrived to take concrete steps to reform the Council, even if it means we have to make hard decisions.
For the developing world, the need for reform is especially critical, given the fact that many, if not most of the conflicts which threaten international peace and stability take place between, or within, developing states - and given the clear and unambiguous link between endemic conflicts and endemic poverty.
Mr President,
After seven years of deliberations, we still have not achieved our objective of reforming the Security Council. Needless to say, this raises some important considerations.
Many countries have already, over the years, "voted with their feet". This is reflected in the visible decrease in the numbers of countries, both developing and developed, participating in the Working Group.
This is not because it is an unimportant issue. We need only look back to the Millennium Summit to see that the reform of the Security Council remains one of the foremost issues of the day, and is arguably the single most important reform issue outstanding on the Agenda of the United Nations.
However, few delegations, especially from developing countries, can afford to participate in an endless get-together of those who can afford the luxury of indulging in endless talk; and it is now evident that no amount of enthusiastic participation and debate will suffice if some Members are not fully committed to achieving a more equitable increase in the membership of the Security Council.
Mr President,
The Security Council remains the only universal organ which is mandated, via Article 24 of the United Nations Charter, to determine the existence of threats to international peace and security, and to propose remedies, including the use of force, to restore and maintain international peace and security. It is to the Security Council then, that the masses who suffer the ravages of conflict, in Africa and elsewhere, must turn to.
The Security Council remains seized of many situations constituting threats to international peace and security, from Angola to Afghanistan, from Central and East Africa to the Balkans, and from the Middle East to Western Sahara. Many of these conflicts have continued for years, and the Security Council is continually expected to address increasingly more complex conflict situations.
Reforming the Security Council will not instantly resolve these conflicts. The Council should, however, at the very least, be both the symbol and the instrument of our collective resolve to act decisively to promote and maintain international peace and security on behalf of all of humanity.
Only if the Security Council is representative, and acts in a transparent and accountable manner will it command the necessary respect and support, not only of all governments, but also of the people to whom its actions and its purpose matter the most, the victims of conflict.
A more equitable increase in the membership of the Security Council should improve its ability to act with credibility, and with the widest support of the international community, both of which are essential prerequisites for the more effective and more efficient resolution of conflicts.
Mr President,
If we recognise the changed circumstances that require the reform of the Security Council, we are also compelled to acknowledge the changed composition of the UN membership, and thus the relevance of the UN Charter provision for equitable geographic representation. The Members of the United Nations should not allow the Security Council to continue to suffer from a lack of legitimacy, balance and credibility and, worst of all, the perception amongst the membership that it suffers from a lack of political will, and fails to act when it is required.
We are constantly reminded that many of the issues of which the Security Council is seized are African conflicts. However, fifty-five years after the formation of this Organisation, African decision-makers have not been afforded equal representation on the highest decision-making Organ on conflict prevention. This situation can not be allowed to continue.
Let me be clear on this point. African leaders have already made up their minds. Our Continent must be equitably represented on a reformed Security Council. Since there have been no serious suggestions to abolish permanent membership, this requires that Africa shall be represented by permanent members. This principle is not in doubt.
Mr President,
An examination of the "Report of the Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security Council" (A/54/47) evokes a mixed reaction:
It reflects that there is real progress, and a further intention to continue to improve the working methods of the Security Council.
In this regard, we acknowledge this significant progress, and welcome with appreciation the implementation by the Council of many of the Working Group's proposals to improve the transparency of the Council's work, and to increase the participation by non-members on issues before the Council. The proper institutionalisation of these reforms should still take place through amending and adopting the provisional rules of procedure of the Security Council.
On the other hand, the report also reflects that the Working Group remains unable to make any substantive recommendations on how to increase the membership of the Council to render it more representative of the wider membership of the United Nations.
It is this deadlock that has led to a deep sense of frustration with the reform process. Resolving this situation is going to require profound and decisive action.
Despite the fact that certain fundamental questions do remain to be resolved, and contrary to what a few would have us believe, the choices before the Membership are not the sum of all of the options and positions which have been so meticulously listed, at the insistence of those same few, in the annexes of the Report over the past seven years.
We are instead faced with the question of how we should go about obtaining agreement on reform options.
It is my delegation's view that the process followed up until now in the Open-ended Working Group cannot take the process any further. The Report clearly shows that on the question of how to equitably increase the membership of the Security Council, the process has reached its logical conclusion. No amount of further debate in the Working Group can be expected to resolve the hard choices that we will all have to make.
We have to accept that no matter how desirable in principle, and whilst we share a unanimous resolve to reform the Council, we will never be able to reach complete consensus on the question of how to increase the membership of the Council. Neither do we have the luxury of debating, for another seven years, just what was envisaged by the use of the phrase "general agreement" in resolution 48/26 of 3 December 1993.
Fortunately, we have at least been able to decide, in resolution 53/30 of 23 December 1998, on the majority required in the General Assembly to take a democratic decision on the increase in the membership of the Security Council.
Let me add also that in order to resolve this difficult question, and despite the fact that we ultimately took our decision without a vote, we nonetheless had to resort to the General Assembly to do so.
In like manner, the process needs to be taken forward at a different level. The time for making hard, but necessary political decisions has come. It is a decision that has to be taken sooner, rather than later.
For this to happen, it will require commitment and political resolve on the part of the vast majority of the United Nations Membership. The current permanent members, in particular, must also reach agreement on this and must display the necessary commitment to the UN Charter to assist in building a more representative and accountable Security Council.
We now need to accept our collective political responsibilities and muster the political will to reform and take ownership of the Security Council, and bring to it the credibility and effectiveness it must have to carry out its mandate.
Mr President,
We look forward to sharing in the views of others on the way forward, and to working together with those who are ready to commit to a next level of negotiations.
I thank you.
For more Information, please contact Dumisani Rasheleng 0ffice No. (012) 351 0067 / 0128 Cell No. 083 709 8166