SECURITY COUNCIL, IN FIRST-EVER ‘WRAP-UP’ MEETING, LOOKS BACK ON ITS ACTIVITIES DURING MONTH OF JUNE

Security Council

4343^rd Meeting (PM)

SECURITY COUNCIL, IN FIRST-EVER ‘WRAP-UP’ MEETING,

LOOKS BACK ON ITS ACTIVITIES DURING MONTH OF JUNE

The Security Council this afternoon held the first-ever public wrap-up discussion of its work for the month of June. 

During the month, the Council held public meetings on, among other subjects, the situation between Iraq and Kuwait, cooperation between the Secretariat, the Council and troop-contributing countries, the prevention of armed conflict, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo.

Anwarul Karim Chowdhury (Bangladesh), Council President, said June had been a very busy and difficult month.  A variety of new issues had come up to occupy the Council’s time.  But much had been achieved –- including a meeting on the first-ever report of the Secretary-General on the prevention of armed conflict. 

How decisions were translated into action had come up again and again, he said.  The Secretary-General must be given resources to implement the Council’s decisions and systematic follow-up to Council decisions must be taken.  He noted the proactive initiatives taken in sending missions to conflict areas.  The Council had generated major decisions through the dispatch of such missions –- in that regard he cited the Council mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The representative of Mauritius, speaking to the Council for the last time in his capacity as Permanent Representative of his country to the United Nations, said that today he would conclude his journey of 33 years in the foreign service, which had begun in 1968 with the independence of his country.

He said the Security Council was regarded as the embodiment of hope and justice, not only by nations that felt aggrieved by the actions of other States or faced internal strife, but also by ordinary people.  The decisions taken in this Chamber were the subject of scrutiny by the international community.  Council members should work on the basis of certain norms that should never be compromised:  even-handedness, fairness and justice.

Council members congratulated the Secretary-General of the United Nations on his re-election and complimented the Council's President on the efficiency and transparency with which he had acquitted himself of the task.  They made suggestions about transmitting Council decisions and resolutions to the governments, groups and individuals for which they were intended.  They underlined the importance of sending Council missions to conflict areas.  The importance of the debate on the prevention of armed conflict was emphasized.

Noting the success of the Council's mission to Kosovo, Council members agreed on the importance of preparation.  The resolution on troop-contributing countries had been an important step, Council members said, although more must be done to enhance cooperation.  Some troop-contributing countries were not satisfied with the Working Group on Peacekeeping, although it had made valuable contributions.  Means to make more active use of the Military Staff Committee should be studied, one Council member said.

Welcoming the President's initiative to hold wrap-up meetings in an open debate, Council members expressed the wish that the item "other matters" on the agenda of consultations should indeed be addressed at the end of those meetings, and that the possibility for the Council to have relations with other bodies be increased.  One member remarked that the speakers list should be drawn up on the first-come first-served principle.

The representatives of Norway, Colombia, Russian Federation, Singapore, Ukraine, Tunisia, Ireland, France, Jamaica, China and the United Kingdom also spoke.

The meeting was called to order at 12:40 p.m. and adjourned at 1:50 p.m.

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