By Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti
Mr. Chairman,
Thank you for your letter of 23 February and for convening this first exchange of the seventh round of the intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform.
The current process was launched by General Assembly decision 62/557 of 15 September 2008 and has the continuous support of the Brazilian delegation. We agree with you that this process should evolve in an open, transparent, inclusive and comprehensive membership-driven manner.
We are grateful for your efforts, Mr. Chairman, especially the revised version (Rev3) of the negotiation text, which has been presented in two parts: a longer, restructured document containing all positions and proposals submitted by Member States; and a shorter text to be used as a guide. We appreciate your suggestion that this guide could serve as a stand-alone, operational tool.
Yet, the text on the table still has over 30 pages and the shorter document needs to become more operational, with fewer options and indications on where the majority positions lie.
We are convinced that these majority positions, which form the basis of the commonalities needed for reform, begin with unequivocal support for expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership. There is also a universally held view that improvement in working methods can enhance the transparency, accountability and inclusiveness of the Security Council. Further commonalities could be additionally found in other issues, such as size, veto or equitable geographical distribution.
At this juncture, we hope Member States are ready to energize the process and make real progress.
Mr. Chairman,
Brazil commends the President of the 65th Session of the General Assembly, Joseph Deiss, for his efforts to strengthen the role of the United Nations in global governance and achieve a comprehensive reform of the Security Council.
Reforming the Security Council to make it truly reflective of current geopolitical realities and make it stronger, more representative, legitimate, effective and efficient is long overdue.
On 11 February 2011, the Ministers of the G4 met in New York, for the second time in the last six months, to exchange views on the matter. They stressed that the intergovernmental negotiations made it clear that the overwhelming majority of the Member States support expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories, as well as increased representation of developing countries in both. They also recognized that there is widespread support for a Member States-driven initiative to take the process towards a concrete outcome in the current Session of the General Assembly.
This of course will be a collective endeavour. We fully share your view, Mr. Chairman, that it is up to Member States to make strides towards a substantive give-and-take in a more informal, interactive and results-oriented seventh round.
I wish to reaffirm our readiness to reach out to other countries and to work in close cooperation with them in a spirit of flexibility. We look forward to holding further consultations and discussions with other delegations, in order to achieve as soon as possible our common goal of a successful reform.
Thank you.
