Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
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Minutes of NGO Working Group on the Security Council: 17 April 1995 Minutes of NGO Working Group on the Security Council
Meeting of 17 April 1995
777 UN Plaza, New York City
1:00-3:00 PM
Fifty-five people representing 36 NGOs (including a number of international NGOs) attended this meeting, held at the Dag Hammarskjöld Lounge, overlooking the UN. Also present were two permanent representatives, persons from UN-DPI and media representatives.James Paul of Global Policy Forum welcomed those present and explained the basic purpose of the Working Group, as a forum for discussing and monitoring the Council. He outlined the recent history of the Council reform movement, spoke about the work of the General Assembly 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 and reviewed efforts by NGOs to have a voice in the Council and in Council reform.
William Pace of World Federalist Movement spoke further about how NGOs can strengthen their influence in domains from which they have previously been excluded. He gave the example of the recent NGO initiative on the International Criminal Court.
Andrew Clapham of Amnesty International spoke about Amnesty's concerns regarding the council and the means the organization has employed to have an impact on council decision-making. He said that NGOs have an opportunity to increase their voice in this area and the Working Group provides a very useful mechanism.
Anne Walker of the International Women's Tribune Center greeted Ambassadors Razali Ismail of Malaysia and Colin Keating of New Zealand and introduced them.
Amb. Razali spoke of the details of the consultations, the two non-papers circulating on expansion and on working methods. He said that the proposal to add two new permanent members was "not possible" and "clearly not acceptable" There is no accord on the arguments about "global responsibility" put forward to justify this move. On the issue of the veto, with strong opposition from most members, the P-5 have remained silent and should be asked to defend the veto in the present environment. Some NAM members are open to ideas of "new categories" of members, while most prefer some kind of elected regional representatives. We need to think about new methods of representation.
Amb. Keating said it is unfortunate that the media focus on the question of new permanent members to the exclusion of almost everything else. The UN must address not only the question of council membership but also the way the council conducts its business -- the rules of procedure. He wondered how regions could best be represented in the council and how the council could itself be made more accountable. One state would not necessary serve best as a permanent or semi-permanent representative. Rotation might insure better accountability. But Europe shows the many problems of representation, since the EU has had a hard time articulating a unified foreign policy. The expansion of 11 members proposed by NAM is a very substantial increase. It would have to be matched by a new level of discipline and new working methods.
The presentations were followed by about a half-hour of questions and answers with the ambassadors. People asked questions ranging from the Non-Proliferation Treaty to economic security issues, from the role of the Secretary General to the position of the major powers on global multilateralism. The ambassadors concluded by welcoming the NGO Working Group. They suggested that the WG talk with ambassadors representing a variety of different points of view. And they urged NGOs to be "more daring" and "more outspoken" in their demand for a greater voice for civil society in global security issues. The Ambassadors then left the meeting.
The meeting agreed that the Working Group should contact the GA President to explore direct NGO input into the GA Open-Ended Working Group. It also agreed to try other initiatives of the same type, including an approach to the council.
Those present were invited to explore with their organizations whether they would join as members of the Working Group.
