YouSaid · the spoken record

Edward Luck

lines on the record: 7
first: 2020-05-15
most recent: 2020-05-15
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Are there any new approaches out there? The midst of a pandemic may not be an ideal time to make predictions, but it is probably safe to say that current conditions do not appear particularly propitious for quick or sweeping agreements in the immediate future. It took many months of tough negotiations to arrive at the December Notes. Yet, under Ambassador King’s leadership, the momentum continues. I have no doubt that the search for better working methods is here to stay. Thank you.”
2020-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/418 (2020) · source
“As we have seen with different elements of the 507 process, putting agreed words into practice has not always been easy or quick. Some of the phrasing sounds ambiguous, imprecise or open to interpretation — in other words, diplomatic. The first responsibility for monitoring the results lies with the members of the Council, but external observers should not take their eye off the ball in this consolidation phase. There is still no consensus on pen holding. This issue is as important as it is contentious. At the Finnish workshops, one often hears encouraging words on this front, but then the subsequent negotiations stall. Why? Can we do better next time? Likewise, many members, over many years, have complained about the lack of informality and interactivity in consultations. Yet little changes. Is this too tough a problem to solve?”
2020-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/418 (2020) · source
“I base that judgment, in part, on my experience working with the annual Finnish “Hitting the Ground Running” workshop since its inception 18 years ago.S/2020/418 There, the 15 current members meet with the 5 incoming ones to talk candidly about improving working methods, among other things. The conversation is always lively, often contentious and uniformly productive. It is, again, a process of passing the torch more than an event. That brings me to unfinished business. The agreement on eight notes in December was an impressive accomplishment for which Kuwait, as outgoing Chair of the Informal Working Group, deserves much credit. Yet the ultimate test will be how fully and faithfully those measures are implemented.”
2020-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/418 (2020) · source
“Besides, none of the agreed measures have come close to challenging the Charter-given advantages of permanency and veto power. These built-in inequalities are not going anywhere. So how does the rest of the membership — the other 92 per cent of the Member States — gain a voice in this conversation? This annual debate is one such avenue. It is an opportunity for all Member States both to comment on what has or has not been accomplished and to suggest areas where further enhancements are needed. It is a forum for advising, not deciding. It will succeed to the extent that the 15 are listening. If the past is a guide, it is likely that the members of the Council will show some readiness to entertain fresh ideas and to take into account the assessments of others.”
2020-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/418 (2020) · source
“We owe much to its leadership. Many observers have been tempted to pose this as a struggle between permanent and non-permanent members, between the haves and have-nots, some gaining and some losing perquisites. There is something to this, of course, but surface appearances are too simplistic. If one surveys the past quarter-century, what is most remarkable is how much common ground the 15 have found on matters that once seemed stubbornly divisive. Given the inherent power imbalances within the Council, how could this be? Either the ten have more influence than is commonly assumed, or the five are more flexible than they sometimes seem. At best, perhaps there is a common recognition that in the end they all gain from a Council that functions more smoothly and performs more effectively.”
2020-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/418 (2020) · source
“Unfortunately, this has not always led to better performance on the ground, where its track record remains decidedly mixed. But it has bolstered the Council’s transparency and efficiency, while giving it a reputation as the most agile and adaptable intergovernmental organ in the United Nations system. Reform, as I have said too often over the years, is a process, not an event. For the Council, that process has taken the form of a layered and extended conversation. At its core, this has been, and should be, a dialogue among the 15 members of the Council. The founders wisely made the Council, like the General Assembly, sovereign over its working methods and subsidiary machinery. Since the early 1990s, the Informal Working Group on Documentation and other Procedural Questions has been in the vanguard of the reform movement.”
2020-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/418 (2020) · source
“I thank you, Mr. President. It is an honour to join this important conversation at this critical juncture. The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has altered how the Council functions in ways unimaginable a few months ago. Yet it has not changed the centrality of the Council’s mandate or the importance of getting its working methods right. Therefore, it might be best for me to share some perspectives on the evolution of efforts to enhance the working methods of the Council over time in the hope of offering a sense of where we have been and where we are going. For more than a quarter of a century, the Council has been engaged in self-reflection concerning how it goes about the world’s pre-eminent business of maintaining international peace and security.”
2020-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2020/418 (2020) · source