Ireland will hold the presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the month of October 2001. The Minister, Deputy Cowen, has identified the key priorities for our presidency as being to manage the business of the Council effectively for the month and to ensure it reacts speedily to crisis situations as and when they arise. In preparing for the presidency, the Minister will give careful consideration to how best Ireland's distinctive UN experience and approach can contribute to actively taking forward the Security Council's agenda during the month.
Due to the rapidly changing nature of the international agenda, it is difficult to identify at this point the particular issues which will engage the Council in October this year. Ireland's experience during the past four months on the Security Council has been positive. We have engaged actively in all aspects of the Council's work, particularly in key areas such as the Middle East, Angola, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Great Lakes, the Balkans and East Timor, as well as on the important issue of strengthening co-operation between the Security Council and countries which contribute to peacekeeping operations. The Minister intends that this level of commitment will be carried through during our full term on the Council and the presidency in October.
The role of the presidency of the Security Council is governed by the Council's rules of procedure and relatively formalised. One of Ireland's main tasks in the presidency will be to convene and chair the meetings of the Council and draw up a work programme at the beginning of the month, in consultation with all other Security Council members and the UN secretariat.
I will now turn to the other element of the Deputy's question. While the United Nations Security Council has specific responsibilities for the maintenance of peace and international security, the issue of expenditure on arms, as in the terms described by the Deputy, is not directly addressed by the Council. However, UN Security Council and EU sanctions are in place with the specific aim of reducing the flow of arms to a number of conflict areas.
There is, unfortunately, also illicit trafficking in arms which is often linked to illegal trade in high value commodities such as so-called blood diamonds and other natural resources.
Additional informationThis link often leads to the exacerbation of conflicts, particularly in Africa. Both aspects of the problem are being addressed. The UN conference on the illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons in all its aspects will take place in New York next July with the objective of agreeing an international action plan to combat this illicit trafficking. The Irish delegation is fully engaged in the preparatory work. The trade in high value natural resources and commodities is also being addressed, especially in areas which suffer from persistent conflict such as Angola and Sierra Leone.
In the case of Angola, Ireland, as a member of the United Nations Security Council, is playing an active role through its chairmanship of the United Nations sanctions committee against UNITA, Angola. The sanctions have an important role to play in bringing the tragic conflict in Angola to an end and we are determined to ensure they are fully implemented. So far as Sierra Leone and Liberia are concerned, Ireland, as vice-chair of the Liberia sanctions committee, is also playing an active role. Security Council sanctions against Liberia came into effect on Monday, 7 May, and we will work to help ensure their full implementation and effectiveness.
In all our efforts on these important issues we remain conscious of the commitment made by the leaders of all UN member states on the occasion of the millennium summit in New York last September. The declaration which they made, inter alia, addressed the inter-related issues of development, peace, security and disarmament, and, specifically, the need to implement treaties in arms control and disarmament, to strive for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction and to end illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons.
In compliance with these undertakings, the United Nations Secretary General is preparing a progress report on implementation for consideration at the next regular session of the General Assembly.
