G4 and African group respond to joint statement of UK and USA

Two days ago we published joint statement made by United Kingdom and USA, that can be found here. They publicly shared a disappointment because they claimed that they were not included in the negotiation process regarding Security Council reform. We later found out and reported that there were two major working groups that were preparing working paper, Uniting for Consensus and G4+African group. Each of them have different ambitions and plans for the outcome of thursday's GA session, however only the latter commented the statement of United Kingdom and USA and recognized the importance not to ignore their position. They are completely aware that Security Council reform needs strong cooperation and broadest support possible.


G4 and African group explained that they wanted to 'coordinate and establish common position' before creating a draft working paper and talking to other delegations. It looks like that African countries are very committed to achieve greater representation in the Security Council and they are aware that only complete consensus inside the group can bring them success. G4 group is another group that knows the importance of close cooperation since India and Germany are supporting each other's ambitions for permanent seat. After the draft working paper was created, they contacted the delegates of UK and USA in order to collect standings from P5 group.

"Certain positions and suggestions were considered and incorporated even before," they continued and explained that they did not ignore the common position of P5 group. For example, in a working paper they did not include the demand to abolish a veto. They concluded the statement by recognition of accepting large cooperation while negotiating in General Assembly. It seems that they are sticking to this since their representatives were seen on the meeting with Uniting for Consensus and P5 delegates today. We will report what was the outcome of this meeting soon.

Luka Kavčič

Bellow you can read official respond to UK and USA statement:

OFFICIAL RESPONSE OF THE AFRICAN-G4 GROUP TO THE STATEMENT ON SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM NEGOTIATIONS

Group of African states and the G4 would like to respond to the statement of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America published in the UN Herald.

We would like to stress that our group decided to first coordinate and establish a common position on the Security Council reform and form it into a draft working paper. As soon as our draft document was prepared we contacted the UK and USA and sent them our document in order to hear their opinion and discuss the comments provided by respective Representatives.

Furthermore, certain positions and suggestions of the permanent member states were considered and incorporated in our proposal even before, while African and G4 states were preparing the draft on the Security Council reform, when the group of African states already made concessions and eliminated its demand for the abolition of veto.

We strongly believe that in order to retain Security Council’s accountability, efficiency and legitimacy and in order to reflect the nowadays reality of the international community, it needs to be reformed. However, such reform requires strong cooperation and the broadest support possible and this is why African and G4 states approached variety of member states and proposed a meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council.

Read More

USA and UK disappointed after not being included in the negotiation process on SC reform

The editorial of UN Herald received joint statement made and sent by the permanent representatives of United Kingdom and United States of America to the United Nations yesterday. Ms. Iva Petković and Ms. Urška Učakar expressed observations, praises and some complaints about the ongoing negotiation process between states' representations regarding the SC reform. In the last part of statement they shared their own position about the adoption of any potential draft resolution that might be written in these days. They made it clear that they will support only such resolutions that are predicting efficient and effective Security Council.

The delegations of UK and USA are very pleased with all the effort and time that some states are investing in finding the acceptable solution for new Security Council reform. According to UK and USA Security Council reform is a topic of great importance and is needed. Assuming that two of the current permanent members and other countries are recognizing the need for reform and are expressing will to discuss this topic, we can only expect that SC reform will move from the dead-point in which it is stuck from previous negotiations.

However, in joint statement there are some other very important ideas that UK and USA wanted to express. First is that they were disappointed about not being included in the negotiation process and construction of working papers or draft resolution. As we reported African Union and G4 are preparing working paper and also Uniting for Consensus is very active on this field. Nevertheless, according to the statement they were not approached by those countries during the negotiations. Today, we discovered that African Union group have sent the working paper to UK and USA, who had submitted their comments on it. We also found out that delegations of African Union countries have already invited UK delegate to a meeting that will take place next week. We can hope that cooperation and communication between the P5 and other states is improving.

Second idea expressed by USA and UK can be understood as a warning, because it is sending clear signal that some states should not make plans without discussing to current P5 countries. "A strategy that leaves out members of P5 is perilous, because it will be particularly hard to coordinate some opposing and diverging positions in the short space of time before the actual debate," was pointed out in the statement. UK and USA delegations go on saying that: "We will not be supporting any proposal for Security Council reform simply because it enjoys the most support in the General Assembly or is preferable to all other proposals." In their opinion, SC reform is one of the most delicate and risky project that has be dealt with a lot of patience and prudence. "Its efficiency and effectiveness must be at the forefront of all proposals," they concluded.

Luka Kavčič

Bellow you can  read whole joint statement:

Joint Statement by the Delegations of the

United States of America and

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The Governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and United States of America wish to express their joint recognition for the need to reform the Security Council, as well as their support for efforts of some State representatives in finding a viable solution.

The two Governments would however also like to express their disappointment that the coalitions developing working papers did not include UK and USA in the negotiation process that has been unfolding for the past weeks. We are very pleased the African Union States sent us their working paper, which is still in draft form and we have submitted our comments.

A strategy that leaves out members of P5 is perilous, because it will be particularly hard to coordinate some opposing and diverging positions in the short space of time before the actual debate. We hope that in the next few days, the UK and USA delegations, and other P5 delegations will not only be kept informed of the development of negotiations and working papers, but continuously consulted on any and all changes to working papers. This is particularly essential for those groups of States that have not approached us with their ideas and we have consequentially only speculated what their plans may be. We also expect State representatives to take into account our concerns and find ways of incorporating our suggestions into their proposals.

The Governments of USA and UK have come to an agreement that we will not be supporting any proposal for Security Council reform simply because it enjoys the most support in the General Assembly or is preferable to all other proposals. The reform of the Security Council, although necessary, is one of the most delicate, but also risky projects to be undertaken by the international community. Since the Security Council is the principal organ in the UN system charged with addressing threats to international peace and security, its efficiency and effectiveness must be at the forefront of all proposals. The PR teams of the two delegations have made it clear that Security Council reform is not about compromise, but inspired ideas.

Last, but not least, the two delegations would like to emphasize our commitment to the P5 statement on the veto structure. The delegation of the UK has pointed out on numerous occasions to some delegations, such as South Africa, who is one of our closest partners, that we would be willing to consider extending veto to new permanent members, if a pragmatic intermediate solution would included in the proposal, whereby a new category of seats with a longer mandate would be established and accepted as permanent seats after the completion of this intermediate period and a review process. Since it has been made clear to delegation of the UK that despite growing support for this idea in the UN over the past 3 years, it would not be incorporated into a proposal, the UK delegation will continue to support the current veto structure.   

Iva Petković

Permanent Representative of United Kingdom to the United Nations

Urška Učakar

Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations

Read More

UNAOC: Many cultures. One humanity - Joint Statement

Today we have received the joint statement of United nations Alliance of Civilizations -  the aim of which to overcome the prejudice, misperceptions and social polarization. The Alliance was proposed in 2005 at the 59th GA session of the United Nations by the Spanish primer minister and it was co-sponsored by the prime minister of Turkey. It's four main areas of activity are: media, youth, education and migration and integration. It also creates bound between Eastern Islamic world and West.

However this years representatives of these two states decided to follow the principles and guidance of the Alliance in order to  achieve peace and security, sustainable development and respect of human rights. Latter is one of the main goals that they want to implement, together with minority rights and right to development. Their strategy towards peaceful world is based on intercultural dialogue and prevention of discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. States are also of the opinion that it is important to combat threats such as the use of extremist narratives, which is understandable since both Turkey and Spain have experienced violence, where extremist movements took a part. Last but not least they stressed that the only possible way to tackle that issue is to cooperate on multilateral level.

***

                                                          JOINT STATEMENT

Over the last few years, in times of historical changes and unprecedented political, economic, social and cultural challenges, news from various parts of the world has been dominated by stories of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, gender and many other differences, xenophobia and related intolerance, hate speech and growing tensions around issues that lie at the heart of relations between cultures and religions. Disseminated globally, some of these local stories can however spur extremism and polarization throughout the world and create added tensions among communities and societies. Sadly, in some societies, culture is perceived as source of division, instead of a path to dialogue and human solidarity. In some regions minorities are victims of atrocities including mass killings, only because they belong to different cultures. Holy books are burned and religious symbols are defamed.

These are challenges threatening our efforts to achieve our shared goals of peace and security, sustainable development and human rights. To remain silent would be to accept the banality of hate speech and incitement to hatred. We have to be able to act against common threats such as the use of extremist narratives to inflame opinion and cause unrest and violence. 

This is precisely the aim of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations launched in 2005 by Prime Ministers of Spain and Turkey. Eight years later, all these increased signs of rising discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance show how much this initiative is a priority in order to achieve cohesion and inclusive societies, as well as security and peace among peoples and nations. 

To this end one of the main goals of the Alliance is to strengthen the capacity of all countries to implement the principles and practices of democracy and respect for human rights, including minority rights and the right to development. Through promotion of intercultural dialogue and understanding we are building a path to reduce global conflicts. Through international cooperation we contribute to the efforts of the United Nations and address the challenges facing humanity today, particularly when they are rooted in identity and cultural underpinnings. Under the auspices of the United Nations initiatives and programs we will continue to promote dialogue, tolerance and understanding among civilizations, cultures, peoples and religions, and to promote mutual respect for and prevent the defamation of religions, religious values, beliefs and cultures. The Alliance has an important mediating role in the many conflicts where culture or religion come into play.

It is urgent that everyone work together to address hatred, dispel stereotypes, and help create the necessary conditions to improve understanding among peoples across cultures and religions and, in the process, to help counter the forces that fuel polarisation and extremism. 

But the Alliance cannot implement its goals alone. It is on the way to strengthen its active role of and strives to ensure full interaction and cooperation with individual states, other components of the UN system and is reaching out for partnership with other international, regional and sub-regional organizations.

Jasmina Eminić
Permanent representative of the Kingdom of Spain to the United Nations
Sara Jud
Permanent Representative of the Republic of Turkey to the United Nations

Read More

Forced migrations "on the move" - joint statement on a working paper

It's going for real now! There are just a few days before the General Assembly meets to discuss the topic of forced migrations and three member states - Arab Republic of Egypt, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Irealnd and United States of America have prepared a working paper and provided us with a joint statement.




With the working paper they aim to increase cooperation among countries in order to prevent all forms of forced migration as well as protect forced migrants. It seems that they have agreed to focus on both prevention and protection, which was an often heard priority of some member states.

They have tried to achieve wider cooperation by broadening the definition of displaced persons to include internally displaced persons and refugees, reiterating the importance of democratic institutions, the rule of law and respect for human rights as well as cooperation in diplomatic and humanitarian fields. At this point we are wondering whether a broader definition that includes both refugees and displaced persons is really a solution - this does not contribute significantly to the legal status of internally displaced persons and their protection so member states might want to consider this a bit further.

In their statement the sponsors said that they strongly encourage the international community to set up a system which would work through a case-by-case approach, which is not surprising as it was an often heard policy from the representatives of UK and USA.

Regarding the burden sharing policy - which was also one of the demands of many member states, especially European and African, the sponsors suggest that States to refer the question of burden sharing to the High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development and form a thematic resolution on International migration and development in the second committee of the General Assembly.

Tamara Kajtazović

Here is the full text of the statement:

JOINT STATEMENT: WORKING PAPER ON FORCED MIGRATION
Arab Republic of Egypt, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and United States of America have prepared a working paper on the topic of forced migration. The sponsors are aware that forced migrants are one of the most vulnerable categories of persons facing instability, insecurity, violence, discrimination, human trafficking and other dangerous and deeply traumatic experiences, and this working paper aims to increase cooperation among countries in order to prevent all forms of forced migration as well as protect forced migrants.

Besides recalling several important international documents on this issue, the sponsors tried to achieve wider cooperation by broadening the definition of displaced persons to include internally displaced persons and refugees, reiterating the importance of democratic institutions, the rule of law and respect for human rights as well as cooperation in diplomatic and humanitarian fields. It is important that all authorities and actors on international, regional and national are involved in these processes. The sponsors strongly encourage the international community to set up a system which would work through a case-by-case approach and devise an individualized scheme of protection once it had identified the needs of specific forced migrants.

The sponsors have taken into account the needs and ideas of other countries in the committee. After several multilateral meetings on the issue of burden sharing, including G8 and an ad hoc group of 18 States, we included burden sharing as an important aspect of forced migration regime. There are many different types of donors that are very important for the effective performance of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and their role must be recognized. In the working paper the Sponsors suggest that States to refer the question of burden sharing to the High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development and form a thematic resolution on International migration and development in the second committee of the General Assembly.

Sponsors would like to thank all those countries who have participated in consultations prior to the release of the working paper and made valuable improvements to the working paper.

Tamara Čakić
Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations

Iva Petković
Permanent Representative of United Kingdom to the United Nations

Urška Učakar
Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations

Read More