UNSC reform now at centre of UNGA discussions: Guterres

IANS: UN Security Council reform is now at the centre of discussions at the General Assembly, and there is some progress in the reform process, according to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

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“Before, there was a committee that could-n’t even issue papers and the documents would not move from one year to another”, he said on Tuesday at a news conference, referring to the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN).

“Now there is a committee working seriously. So, I see movement”, he said.

Although the IGN has failed to adopt a negotiating text that India has demanded to form the basis for discussion, its co-chairs have prepared “Elements Papers” broadly laying out the positions of various countries on reform, and points of divergence and convergence, and creating a record.

“The Council's legitimacy, and efficiency is compromised by its current structure”, Guterres said.

"The Security Council has a composition that doesn't correspond to the world of today, it corresponds to the world of 1945. And that creates not only a problem of legitimacy, but a problem of efficiency", he said.