Security Council Adopts 2023 Annual Report to General Assembly

The Security Council today adopted its annual report to the General Assembly, featuring — for the first time — a dedicated chapter on the special reports on the use of the veto.

Presenting the draft, which covers the 15-member organ’s activities in 2023, the representative of the United Kingdom said that the Council saw a 47 per cent increase in the number of additional, unscheduled meetings compared to 2022 and “an unfortunate decrease” in the number of agreed outcome documents.

“Despite this, the Security Council was still able to push forward meaningful action in pursuit of its responsibility to maintain international peace and security, including on pressing issues from Gaza to Afghanistan, from Yemen to Colombia, and from Somalia to Haiti,” he said.

His delegation was responsible for coordinating the drafting of the report’s introduction, but the report is “a collective effort” by the 2023 Council membership and the United Nations Secretariat and “a consensus document”, he stressed.

Reaching agreement on the summary of the Council’s activities is “no small feat” given the trends witnessed throughout the year, he said, noting that the annual report provides a mere snapshot of the organ’s activities across the breadth of issues on its agenda and is an important mechanism to keep the wider UN membership and civil society informed of the trends and decisions made throughout the year.

Following an informal consultation with all Member States in the General Assembly and considering feedback received, his delegation included additional information on those resolutions not adopted due to the casting of a veto and references to votes on procedural issues, he said, expressing hope that those who have the responsibility of drafting the introduction continue this practice of responding positively to the reflections and suggestions of the wider membership.