15 January 2017

Reforms in the UN Security Council (UNSC) can be realised only by bringing greater transparency to the work of the Council and increasing its members according to standards and regulations, Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said yesterday.

“This would create a fair balance in representation and efficiency in performance,” the Foreign Minister said, addressing the opening session of the meeting on United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reforms which began here yesterday.

Thirty UN member states are participating in the two-day meeting, along with the President of the 71st UN General Assembly Peter Thomson and the Co-Chairmen of the Inter-Governmental Negotiation on Security Council Reform Ambassador Mohamed Khaled Khiari of Tunisia and Ambassador Ion Jinga of Romania. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Soltan bin Saad Al Muraikhi was also present at the opening session.

The Foreign Minister stressed that the most important challenges to the world order are the stability of international community and safety of its peoples.

He pointed that the UNSC’s failure in carrying out its responsibilities underscores the importance of fast reform of the Council, which was formed before decades under various international circumstances.

“The UNSC now is not able to keep up with the developments that have occurred in the structure and interactions of the international system over the past decades,” said the Foreign Minister.

He added that Qatar hosting this meeting stems from its role as an active member in the international community and the broad agreement among the members of the international community that the Security Council reform is the collective interest of the member states and the United Nations system.

He stressed that Qatar sees peace more comprehensively than just the absence of violence, adding that peace is to address all aspects of development, strengthening institutions, education and opening opportunities for economic recovery and political and economic integration of young people, and addressing issues of inequality, human rights violations, injustice and exclusion.

The UNSC needs to play its role through taking initiatives, mediation and preventive diplomacy which should be enhanced in the international community. There are many conflicts in the world which cannot be solved without multiple concerted efforts. The role of UNSC should be strengthened to deal with the challenges to maintain peace and security worldwide, said the Foreign Minister.

Concluding his speech, the Foreign Minister stressed the importance of understanding and flexibility in opinions on the reform of the Security Council. He expressed hope that the meeting discussions would bring new ideas about the intergovernmental process.

The changes the world have witnessed since the establishment of UN have posed a big challenge to the UN, said Peter Thomson.

"The world is facing the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War and the UN’s failure to deal with such crisis will lead to the public losing confidence in the UN and its role,” said Thomson.

© The Peninsula 2017