Security Council’s Sept Agenda: Reviving Trust, Upholding Int'l Law, & Strengthening Global Order
The Security Council’s programme of work for September — a “special challenge” due to its intersection with both the General Assembly’s High-level Week and the Summit of the Future — will focus on reinforcing weakening trust between nations and respect for international law, its President for the month told reporters at a Headquarters press conference today.
Samuel Žbogar of Slovenia, which holds the 15-member organ’s rotating presidency for September, noted the many changes since his country first held the Council presidency 25 years ago. “But there is one thing that remains the same — the responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security,” he stressed. Therefore, the central premise of Slovenia’s presidency will be the urgent need to restore political will and strengthen an eroding global order.
This will be reflected in Slovenia’s signature event — an open debate on 25 September chaired by Prime Minister Robert Golob — which will focus on building trust and recommitting to the purpose and principles of both the Charter of the United Nations and international law. Stressing that his delegation has witnessed the decay of the Council’s legitimacy and relevance in the eight months of its term, he recalled that Sierra Leone’s August presidency addressed the former while Slovenia will concentrate on the latter.
“We live in a world of grim statistics,” he emphasized, pointing to the unprecedented need to “rebuild trust to secure the future” and stressing that the precondition for doing so is “full respect and compliance with the Charter of the United Nations”.
Another open debate, to be held on 9 September, will focus on the importance of unified Council support for peace operations, so that missions can deliver on the mandates they are given. He noted that this event will also provide an opportunity to reflect on both how to foster trust and rally support for such operations and their future, given recent developments relating to UN peacekeeping.
He also noted that, given the threat of regional escalation in the Middle East, the Council will hold a high-level, interactive, informal dialogue on 26 September with the League of Arab States (LAS) and the Arab Summit Troika. This event will be chaired by Tanja Fajon, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Slovenia.
Relatedly, he said that the Council will hold several meetings in September on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, encouraging Council members to deliver “forward-looking” statements that focus on reconstruction and the UN’s role in restarting political dialogue towards a two-State solution.
Also noting meetings to be held on Syria, Yemen, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Afghanistan, he said that the latter will focus on the situation facing Afghan women and girls and will be chaired by the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Finally, on products to be adopted during Slovenia’s presidency, he expressed hope that a mandate extension for the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti will be adopted before September’s end. And, following the 25 September open debate, he expressed hope that Council members will adopt a presidential statement recommitting to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. “So, let’s see how that goes,” he said.
He then responded to questions posed by correspondents, many of which focused on the 25 September open debate. Asked about the focus of that meeting, he pointed to three conflicts where the Council was not “able to intervene more dramatically” — Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan — and said that the meeting is open-ended purposefully so that Member States can suggest how the Council can “do better”. To a question seeking blame for the Council’s “crumbling relevance”, he said: “It is because of disunity among the P5 [Permanent Five] that it is impossible for the Council to be more forceful.”
Building on that, he pointed out that, even when the Council adopts resolutions, it is usually with abstentions. “That is a message in itself to the parties on the ground,” he observed, noting that the mood in the Council deteriorated after the Russian Federation’s attack on Ukraine. While “we don’t expect one debate to change the mood”, he nevertheless said that it is important to reflect. And, asked what permanent Council members could change about their behaviour, he urged recommitting to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. “I think that would be a good start,” he said.
Full press release:https://press.un.org/en/2024/240903_s...
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