In a significant development, the UN General Assembly on Monday adopted a negotiating text by consensus for the Security Council reforms, setting the stage for talks on the long-pending process at the
In a significant development, the UN General Assembly on Monday adopted a negotiating text by consensus for the Security Council reforms, setting the stage for talks on the long-pending process at the 70th session of the global body which commences on Tuesday.
UN General Assembly president Sam Kutesa, who convened a plenary meeting here to take action on the draft decision on the “Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters”, also circulated letters containing the positions of key countries including Russia, the US and China which refused to contribute to the negotiating text.
There was no voting on the decision to continue text-based UNSC reforms in the 70th session of the General Assembly and it was adopted by consensus.
The draft decision contains a negotiating text, which has positions of UN member states on Security Council reform and how the powerful 15-nation body should be expanded in its permanent and non-permanent categories.
The adoption is a significant step towards beginning talks on the long-stalled reforms process in the 70th session of the Assembly on the basis of a negotiating text, a first in the last seven years of inter-governmental negotiations that have been conducted so far without the basis of any text. With the 69th session of the General Assembly concluding on Tuesday, Mr Kutesa presented the text for adoption and to be carried forward to the 70th session beginning on Tuesday.
He achieved a breakthrough of sorts by circulating the text to UN members that will form the basis for the inter-governmental negotiations on the reform of the Security Council.
With the adoption, the General Assembly decided to “immediately continue inter-governmental negotiations on Security Council reform in informal plenary of the General Assembly at its 70th session, building on the informal meetings held during its 69th session, as well as the positions and proposals made by member states, reflected in the text and its annex circulated by the President of the Gene-ral Assembly”.
