Statement by H.E. Ambassador ISHIKANE Kimihiro, Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, at the General Assembly 27th Plenary Meeting, on Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council
2020/11/16
Mr. President,
Japan aligns itself with the statement delivered by Brazil on behalf of the G4. Allow me to add few points in my national capacity.
Japan commends the early nominations of the Co-Chairs of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council Reform, Ambassador Joanna Wronecka of Poland, and Ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani of Qatar. Japan also welcomes your strong leadership towards increasing the number of IGN meetings during this session. Please rest assured that you and the Co-Chairs will have Japan’s full support throughout the session.
Mr. President,
On 21 September 2020, the Heads of State and Government, representing the peoples of the world, adopted the declaration commemorating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. In this declaration, all Member States committed to “instil new life” in the discussion on the reform of the Security Council. Now is the time to reinvigorate our work in the IGN.
Japan firmly believes it is more urgent than ever to enhance the role of developing countries and of major contributors to the United Nations in order to make the Council more legitimate, effective, and representative.
In this context, I would like to reiterate our support for the Common African Position as stipulated in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. Japan expressed its clear support at TICAD 7 held in Yokohama in August 2019 and during the IGN meetings of the 74th session. Japan also deems that new permanent seats in a reformed Security Council should be allocated to Member States which have the capacity and willingness to take on major responsibilities with regards to the maintenance of international peace and security.
Mr. President,
To “instil new life” in our discussions, I would like to make three concrete suggestions.
First, since we had only two meetings in the previous session, Japan kindly requests the Co-Chairs to convene the first IGN meeting immediately, before the end of this year, as a direct continuation of the two last meetings of the 74th session. If in-person meetings cannot be held, we must show flexibility and explore ways to continue our work. The Co-Chairs are also kindly requested to establish a well-focused annotated agenda to avoid the repetition of well-known positions by the Member States in their general statements.
Second, the modalities of the IGN should be improved, so that the process will become more open, transparent, and inclusive. Specifically, we should apply the UN General Assembly Rules of Procedure to the IGN process. Official records should be kept, and live webcast should be introduced. IGN must transform itself from a discussion forum into a legitimate negotiation process.
Third, IGN discussions should be outcome-oriented and to that end, text-based negotiations should begin without delay. We should aim to agree by the end of this session on a single document, which will serve as the basis of our intergovernmental negotiations. This could be done by updating the Elements paper after each round of meetings and by indicating the attribution of positions to each Member State in the text.
As has been put forward by our colleague Ambassador of Brazil, reaching consensus before negotiating is to start the process from the endpoint, and cannot be planned.
Mr. President,
In closing, let me emphasize that COVID-19 should not be used as a pretext to stall the discussions on the Security Council reform. Divergences of positions among the Member States should be and can be resolved through negotiations. That is what the United Nations is for. Japan trusts that your leadership, and that of the Co-Chairs, will translate into more IGN meetings as well as in results-oriented and in-depth discussions during this anniversary year session.
I thank you.
Japan aligns itself with the statement delivered by Brazil on behalf of the G4. Allow me to add few points in my national capacity.
Japan commends the early nominations of the Co-Chairs of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council Reform, Ambassador Joanna Wronecka of Poland, and Ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani of Qatar. Japan also welcomes your strong leadership towards increasing the number of IGN meetings during this session. Please rest assured that you and the Co-Chairs will have Japan’s full support throughout the session.
Mr. President,
On 21 September 2020, the Heads of State and Government, representing the peoples of the world, adopted the declaration commemorating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. In this declaration, all Member States committed to “instil new life” in the discussion on the reform of the Security Council. Now is the time to reinvigorate our work in the IGN.
Japan firmly believes it is more urgent than ever to enhance the role of developing countries and of major contributors to the United Nations in order to make the Council more legitimate, effective, and representative.
In this context, I would like to reiterate our support for the Common African Position as stipulated in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. Japan expressed its clear support at TICAD 7 held in Yokohama in August 2019 and during the IGN meetings of the 74th session. Japan also deems that new permanent seats in a reformed Security Council should be allocated to Member States which have the capacity and willingness to take on major responsibilities with regards to the maintenance of international peace and security.
Mr. President,
To “instil new life” in our discussions, I would like to make three concrete suggestions.
First, since we had only two meetings in the previous session, Japan kindly requests the Co-Chairs to convene the first IGN meeting immediately, before the end of this year, as a direct continuation of the two last meetings of the 74th session. If in-person meetings cannot be held, we must show flexibility and explore ways to continue our work. The Co-Chairs are also kindly requested to establish a well-focused annotated agenda to avoid the repetition of well-known positions by the Member States in their general statements.
Second, the modalities of the IGN should be improved, so that the process will become more open, transparent, and inclusive. Specifically, we should apply the UN General Assembly Rules of Procedure to the IGN process. Official records should be kept, and live webcast should be introduced. IGN must transform itself from a discussion forum into a legitimate negotiation process.
Third, IGN discussions should be outcome-oriented and to that end, text-based negotiations should begin without delay. We should aim to agree by the end of this session on a single document, which will serve as the basis of our intergovernmental negotiations. This could be done by updating the Elements paper after each round of meetings and by indicating the attribution of positions to each Member State in the text.
As has been put forward by our colleague Ambassador of Brazil, reaching consensus before negotiating is to start the process from the endpoint, and cannot be planned.
Mr. President,
In closing, let me emphasize that COVID-19 should not be used as a pretext to stall the discussions on the Security Council reform. Divergences of positions among the Member States should be and can be resolved through negotiations. That is what the United Nations is for. Japan trusts that your leadership, and that of the Co-Chairs, will translate into more IGN meetings as well as in results-oriented and in-depth discussions during this anniversary year session.
I thank you.