Mr. Jeem Lippwe
Deputy Permanent Representative
of the Federated States of Micronesia
to the United Nations
Before the
Open-Ended Working Group on Security Council Reform
On Behalf of the Federated States of Micronesia and Nauru
New York, 10 September 2008
Mr. President,
I am making this brief intervention on behalf of my own delegation, Micronesia, and that of the Republic of Nauru.
It is very unfortunate that the timing between the release of the Chairman’s draft report just this morning, and the subsequent convening this morning as well of this meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEGW) on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase of the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security Council to discuss the draft report does not allow us the very small delegations to review and contribute meaningfully to our deliberations on this very important issue. As small delegations without the human resources and technical wherewithal we find ourselves further marginalized and disadvantaged. We should, however, like to briefly highlight a few points that are important to our delegations.
Mr. President,
We believe, like the many delegations that have spoken earlier, that we now posses the necessary tools to begin substantive negotiations without any further delay. We recall from previous meetings of the OEGW that there was a very clear and a strong call by all stakeholders for negotiations to commence immediately. We seek your guidance and leadership, Mr. President, to launch negotiations in an informal plenary of this General Assembly complete with an immediate and a clear timeframe to commence our work. The intergovernmental negotiation, in our view, is the appropriate forum in which to conduct our consultations and negotiations on the reform of the Security Council. It provides the best mechanism for reaching our shared goals in the difficult task of reforming the Council.
We are of the view that the draft report, in order to achieve consensus, must avoid referencing the seven principles which attempts to imply that these principles have been accepted by all members. We consider that any supportive reference to these principles should only be referenced if there were any agreement reached by all members of the United Nations.
I thank you Mr. President.