Denis Naughten
Question:81 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will set out his approach to UN Security Council reform. [21534/02]
Written Answers. - UN Security Council Reform.
Jim O'Keeffe
Question:116 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position in relation to reform of the United Nations; and if he has recently made proposals in this regard. [21499/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 81 and 116 together.
The Government is acutely conscious of the need to strengthen the United Nations in order to fulfil the commitment made in the Millennium Summit Declaration to ensure a more effective instrument for pursuing the fight for peace and development and against poverty, ignorance and disease.
The Millennium Summit, which took place in September 2000, provided fresh impetus to the reform process and, in line with the commitment in the Millennium Summit Declaration, the Government strongly supports the reform process initiated by Secretary General Annan.
The Secretary General's recently published report on reform of the UN system, Strengthening of the United Nations: An Agenda for Further Change, represents a significant next step in the reform process. While many of the measures proposed can be implemented immediately under the authority of the Secretary General, others will be the subject of further discussion among member states. Ireland and its EU partners will continue to stress that the reform process is not simply a cost-cutting exercise, but one which is aimed at strengthening and renewing the UN system.
The financial problems which the UN faced over the past decade caused difficulties in advancing UN reform. Ireland welcomes the payment by the US of much of the arrears it owed to the organisation. This has eased considerably the pressure on the UN's finances and has added impetus to the reform process.
One of the most difficult issues facing the UN membership generally is the question of Security Council reform. The General Assembly decided in 1993 to establish a working group, open to all UN member states, to consider all aspects of the question of an increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Council. The working group has been meeting regularly in New York since 1993, with Ireland as an active participant, but progress has been disappointing.
The issues involved are enlargement of Security Council membership, the Council's working methods and its decision-making procedures including, crucially, the use of the veto. Ireland supports a small, regionally balanced increase in both permanent and non-permanent seats to create an enlarged Council of between 20 and 25 members. We strongly believe that any agreement on enlargement should not diminish the possibility for smaller UN member states to serve on the Council as non-permanent members.
A significant number of other member states opposes the creation of new permanent seats on the Council and this has created difficulties for the working group. Ireland will continue to play an active and constructive role in seeking agreement on this issue.
On Security Council working methods, there appears to be fairly wide consensus that these should be more formalised and transparent, involving greater consultation by the Council with other UN organs, including the General Assembly and Secretary General, and, in peacekeeping matters, with troop contributing countries. As a member of the Security Council, Ireland has taken an open and transparent approach to the work of the Council, consulting widely with interested countries outside the Security Council, including in the area of peacekeeping. I am pleased that we have been able to live up to our campaign pledge to adopt a consultative approach to our membership of the Council.
Ireland would like to see the veto eliminated altogether but, recognising the strong opposition of the permanent members, has proposed that they be invited to accept a limitation of the veto, and to exercise it only when they consider the question of vital national importance, taking into account the interests of the United Nations as a whole. At the same time, any new permanent members of the Council would declare that they would never exercise the veto.
One positive development at the Security Council which is of particular resonance for Ireland is the progress which has been made in strengthening co-operation between the Security Council and countries contributing troops to UN peacekeeping operations. As a permanent troop contributor, we welcome the increased recognition of the vital input which countries contributing troops make to SECCO decision-making.
Major reforms have been undertaken in UN peacekeeping, on foot of the report of the Panel on UN Peace Operations, the Brahimi report. The report recommended wide ranging institutional, operational, staffing and funding changes to UN peacekeeping operations, most of which have now been implemented. The allocation of adequate resources for operations and for the secretariat remains a key issue and the Secretary General committed in his recent report to presenting peacekeeping budgets in a new format, reflecting a more strategic approach to the process of resource allocation.
Efforts to revitalise the General Assembly and to restore it as the central deliberative, policy-making and representative body of the UN have been undertaken over the years but implementation has often been lacking. It is a slow process given the need to ensure consensus at each stage. In 2001, some small but important steps were agreed, including modest streamlining of the plenary agenda and the greater use of modern technology to enhance efficiency.
Member states are continuing to examine ways of reforming and restoring authority to the General Assembly. On 8 July last, the General Assembly adopted a resolution providing for election of the President of the General Assembly, of the Vice-Presidents of the Assembly and the Chairs of the main committees in advance of the regular session. The then President of the General Assembly also circulated a non-paper which proposes a number of reform measures, including the holding of regular meetings between the President and the main committees, suggestions for the organisation of debates, closer involvement of permanent representatives in the budgetary procedure and the use of modern technology. It is intended that the non-paper will remain an informal living document and it will be for successive Presidents to take the discussion further and for the ideas in the paper to be implemented as they ripen.
Progress has also been made on administrative reform in the development area. A UN development group has been established which brings together the heads of all of the development agencies for discussions on co-ordination and coherence. A UN development assistance framework, UNDAF, is in place under which UN agencies in the field are based in a common UN house and are co-ordinated by the resident representative of the UNDP. Co-ordination of the UN's emergency humanitarian operations has been centralised in the Office of the Co-ordinator for Humanitarian Assistance, OCHA.
The Secretary General has proposed further reforms in his recent paper, suggesting that by June 2003 the UN development group should prepare an implementation plan to strengthen the effectiveness of the organisation's presence in developing countries. This plan will include features such as joint programming, which Ireland would support.
Far-reaching reforms have also been implemented in many of the UN's funds and programmes. The UN Development Programme, UNDP, has introduced major management restructuring and is streamlining its operations, decentralising and focusing its work programme. Similarly the UN children's fund, UNICEF, the population fund, UNFPA, and the World Health Organisation, WHO, have also implemented reform programmes. Most of these agencies are now receiving increased donor support, including from Ireland, and are working to strengthen their links with the private sector and private philan thropic foundations. Ireland has sharply increased its funding to the UNDP, €8.95 million in 2002, to UNICEF, €5.5 million in 2002, and to the UNFPA, €1.8 million in 2002, and entered into indicative multi-annual funding commitments with these bodies.
I assure the House that reform of the UN remains much a live issue, on which more work remains to be done. Ireland will continue to support the reform process and will engage actively in discussions on the Secretary General's latest report, which provides a good road-map for the way ahead.