EXPLANATION OF POSITION BY AMBASSADOR BURHAN GAFOOR, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF SINGAPORE TO THE UNITED NATIONS ON AGENDA ITEM 122: QUESTION OF EQUITABLE REPRESENTATION ON AND INCREASE IN THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL AND OTHER MATTERS RELATED TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL, 19 JULY 2017

Mr President,

1.                               Singapore would like to firstly thank you for the priority you have attached to the issue of UNSC reform and for your leadership and engagement in the reform process. 

2.                               We would also like to place on record our appreciation to Ambassador Ion Jinga of Romania and Ambassador Mohamed Khaled Khiari of Tunisia for their hard work and for leading the work of the IGN (Inter-Governmental Negotiations) on Security Council reform, in an inclusive, transparent and efficient manner. 

3.                               Their able stewardship of the process culminated with the co-chairs’ paper entitled “elements of Commonality and Issues for Further Consideration”. 

4.                               The co-chair’s paper is an important outcome this year as it identifies in one consolidated document the key elements of commonality on all the five clusters of issues mandated under GA decision 62/557.  The co-chair’s paper also lists out some other issues that merit further reflection and discussion. 

5.                               We are happy that the co-chair’s paper builds on the work of the IGN over the last two years, and together with the framework document and the elements of convergence paper, will form a good reference, from which to start our negotiations at the next IGN session.

6.                               We note that the co-chair’s paper omitted reference to an important issue of interest to Singapore, notably the explicit reference to the need to pay due attention to the representation of SIDs or small island developing states in a reformed council.  However, we acknowledge that the paper reflects a fine balance of interests and positions held by Member states.  Accordingly, we have joined consensus on the adoption of the draft oral decision.  We will continue to flag this important issue, as well as other issues of interest small states, notably the working methods of the Security Council, when the IGN resumes its work next year.

7.                               While the paper represents another milestone in the work of the IGN process, we should not rest on our laurels.

8.                               The challenge now is to build on the co-chairs paper and to sustain the momentum for progress.

9.                               The imperative for Security Council reform remains more real and urgent than ever before.

10.                          We need to accelerate the pace of our work to achieve early and meaningful reforms.

11.                          My delegation remains committed to working with other delegations to advance the progress, realise meaningful and early reforms, and to make the Security Council more open, more accountable, more effective, and more inclusive.

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