Ensure More Transparent and Democratic Working Methods on the Security Council
For an effective Security Council, reform of its working methods and procedures is vital.
Join our petition for more democratic and transparent procedures in the Security Council.
We encourage all in support of a more democratic, transparent, accountable and effective maintenance of international peace and security to call on all governments to reform the working methods and decision-making processes of the Security Council.
A successful Security Council capable of maintaining international peace and security is not achieved merely by enlarging the membership. In order to establish and advance its credibility and effectiveness, more democratic and transparent structures of the Security Council procedures need to be set in place.
Currently, UN Member States are debating the issue of reform of the Security Council in light of the geopolitical realities of the twenty-first century. However, the debate has focused too exclusively on the enlargement of the membership, such as types and numbers of seats. In an effort to ensure that the issue of Security Council reform is not confined to that of membership, we call for a constructive debate about procedures that can ensure a more transparent, accountable and effective Council.
Many reasonable recommendations for reform of the Council’s procedures have been put forward and should be given serious consideration by Member States, inter alia:
More open meetings and transparency in decision-making
Restriction on the use of the veto and the veto abstention in cases of genocide and large-scale human rights abuses.
Greater procedural allowance for indicative voting, which would allow for members of the Security Council to call for a public indication of positions by members on a proposed action. This would considerably increase not only the Council’s transparency but also its accountability.
Consideration of procedural reforms as suggested by the Security Council Open-Ended Working Group in A/57/47(Annex V) entitled Revised conference room paper submitted by the Bureau of the Working Group on the working methods of the Security Council and transparency of its work.
We thus encourage you to join us in our call to urge the governments to reform the Security Council’s procedures by signing the petition for more democratic and transparent working methods on the Security Council.
