VZCZCXYZ0006
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #1053/01 3221700
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181700Z NOV 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7664
INFO RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001053 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR IO/UNP AND USUN/W. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KUNR UNSC UNGA
SUBJECT: UNGA DISCUSSES UNSC REPORT: MEMBER STATES CONTINUE 
TO CALL FOR MORE ANALYSIS 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The General assembly met on November 12 - 
13 for a joint plenary debate on the annual Report of the 
Security Council (SC) as well as Security Council expansion 
(septel).  The United States and more than 70 delegations 
delivered statements, with some noting improvements in the 
report, but many more calling for more analysis and 
qualitative information. The U.S. statement delivered by 
Ambassador Wolff called the report transparent and 
comprehensive, and took note of the Council's efforts to hold 
more formal meetings which provide an excellent way for 
non-Council members to follow the Council's work first-hand 
without relying primarily on an annual report. Many states 
noted the current report was little more than a list of 
meetings held and actions taken, and expressed their desire 
for a more analytical report that would explain the reasons 
behind the Council's decision-making, as well as its lack of 
agreement on key issues. A number of countries, usually 
within the framework of offering some additional suggestion 
or improvement, noted that the report had improved in 
substance and even transparency over previous years. Some 
delegations called for more frequent reporting on the 
Security Council's work, either periodically or thematically. 
As in the past, many member states continued to call for 
greater participation and transparency; however, their 
representation at open meetings of the SC - as pointed out in 
the U.S. statement - has not reflected a comparable level of 
interest. Some countries called on the UN to reform its 
working methods in such a way as to enhance transparency and 
accountability. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) PGA CALLS FOR MORE ANALYSIS: President of the General 
Assembly (PGA) Ali Treki introduced the joint plenary debate 
and stated that discussion continued to strengthen the 
cooperation between the Assembly and the Security Council. 
Treki noted that it was a provision of the Charter for the 
Security Council to provide an annual report but that there 
is a widely shared view among member states that the 
Assembly's consideration of the report would be more 
meaningful if the report were substantive and "more 
analytical in terms of providing (a) better understanding of 
the dynamics of discussion and decision making in the 
Council."  He noted that the report outlined the wide range 
of issues on the Council's agenda and, given the crucial 
nature of its work, scrutiny of its performance was intense. 
 
¶3. (U) PSC NOTES GREATER TRANSPARENCY, URGES DELEGATES NOT TO 
UNDERESTIMATE REPORT'S VALUE: President of the Security 
Council (PSC) for the month of November, Austrian Perm Rep 
Thomas Mayr-Harting, presented the Council's annual report to 
the General Assembly noting that the Council had faced a 
challenging and complex set of situations and issues 
throughout the year.  Mayr-Harting listed the countries, 
regions and issues that the Security Council dealt with in 
its meetings.  He noted the increase in open debates and open 
briefings from previous years. The President recognized that 
"there will always be scope to improve further the analytical 
depth" of the report, but urged delegations to "remind 
ourselves that the annual report in its entirety constitutes 
an important reference document for our work in the medium 
and long term. This should not be underestimated." 
 
¶4. (U) U.S. STATEMENT NOTES EFFORTS TO CREATE A TRANSPARENT 
SECURITY COUNCIL: Ambassador Wolff delivered the U.S. 
statement and noted that the SC report "provides non-Council 
members with a transparent and comprehensive review of the 
intensive work of the Security Council." He  added that "the 
United States takes seriously the importance of making sure 
that all member states are informed of and appropriately 
involved in the Council's work." He underscored that, in the 
spirit of transparency, the Security Council has held "more 
formal meeting of the Council which are open to the full 
membership, as the report highlights." He noted that 
"regrettably, however, these meetings are not always attended 
by more than a small percentage of member states" and urged 
member states to "follow the Council's work first hand on 
such occasions rather than relying primarily on an annual 
report." Full text of the statement can be found at: 
http://usun.state.gov/briefing/statements/200 9/131936.htm 
 
¶5. (U) DELEGATIONS DEMAND ANALYSIS AND SUBSTANCE: Egypt, 
speaking on behalf of the Non-aligned Movement, expressed 
regret that the SC annual report lacked depth and was 
therefore less useful to the broader membership of the UN, 
and called specifically for the inclusion of further details 
on the Council's efforts made to maintain global peace and 
security. Belarus called the report informative, but said it 
lacked analytical depth. Algeria complained that the SC 
report did not explain cases where the Council was unable to 
reach a decision on an issue. (Comment: The Algerian 
 
 
representative failed to appreciate how difficult it would be 
for the 15 members of the Security Council to ever reach 
consensus on a text discussing the source of their 
disagreement or reason for inaction. This was a common 
failure of most of the comments calling for greater 
analytical depth. End comment.) Cuba and Peru both called the 
report a mere description or listing of what the Security 
Council has done, and called for more substance to be 
included in the future. The Cuban representative even called 
for a separate plenary debate next year to only discuss the 
SC report and not to have a joint debate also covering SC 
reform since he said there was too much to cover on each 
topic.  Tunisia said that the report is a compendium of 
decisions and resolutions and therefore takes away from the 
only chance for in-depth study of the Council's activity by 
non-members. Lichtenstein called the Security Council report 
central to the communications between the Security Council 
and the General Assembly and added that the report does not 
fulfill the goal of accountability in its current form and 
offered his country's support, working with other delegations 
and SC members, to exchange views on how to best improve the 
document. (Comment: The Charter does not/not state that the 
Council is accountable to the General Assembly, only that the 
Security Council should submit annual, and when necessary, 
special reports to the General Assembly for its 
consideration.  End Comment.) 
 
¶6. (U) SOME IMPROVEMENTS NOTED, MOSTLY BY CURRENT OR FORMER 
SECURITY COUNCIL MEMBERS: SC permanent member Russia defended 
the report as reflecting the dynamics of the SC's work and 
fulfilling its purpose, which is to give an accurate account 
of its actions over the previous year, but also noted that it 
is "well aware of the difficulties of discussing the report 
in the GA" and called for "greater interaction between the GA 
and the SC." Former SC member (2007-2009) Indonesia praised 
the Security Council for compiling a more analytical report, 
but noted there is room for improvement, and suggested that a 
discussion of its implementation efforts would be helpful. 
Current SC member Japan welcomed the report and offered to 
work towards improving its quality, noting that it is "long 
overdue."  Pakistan referred to the report as a comprehensive 
compendium of decisions and meetings that has reference 
value, but noted that analysis is needed in order to 
strengthen it, and also contended that more information on 
its decision making process (much of it occurring behind 
closed-doors) would be helpful in boosting its transparency. 
Current SC member Mexico noted that more transparency and 
analysis can be seen in this year's report, but urged 
delegations to continue fine-tuning the document. Current SC 
member Vietnam noted an improvement in the format and content 
of the SC report, but said more could always be done in order 
to better grasp the SC's role. The Congo noted it is grateful 
for the report, but said the purely factual approach limits 
the understanding of the challenges facing the SC. Paraguay 
called the report substantive. 
 
¶7. (U) IMPROVEMENT: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?: The Swiss 
representative noted a lack of "highlighting the linkages 
between thematic, regional and country-specific issues" and 
also cited summaries as "often incomplete" and not accurately 
reflecting the discussions. He went on to suggest that the 
report include analytical summaries by each of the 12 monthly 
Council Presidents and considered adding a "lessons learned" 
chapter.  SC permanent member the United Kingdom stressed its 
support for ensuring that the Security Council report be as 
transparent as possible and commended Vietnam and Uganda's 
efforts to convene an informal meeting to discuss the report 
and added that "we hope that more Member States will take 
advantage of such opportunities in the future." Belarus 
suggested that one way to improve communications between the 
Security Council and the General Assembly would be to shift 
towards monthly reports prepared by a member of the Security 
Council. (Note: Each Security Council President prepares a 
monthly assessment of the work of the Council which is posted 
on the Council's website and is used to prepare the Council's 
annual report.  End note.)Numerous countries called for the 
General Assembly to improve upon its own working methods. 
Egypt noted that "reform of the working methods of the 
Security Council is also an important aspect of the council's 
reform. It should be based on enhancing transparency and 
accountability." 
 
¶8. (U) REPORT NOTES A BUSY AND CHALLENGING TIME FOR THE 
SECURITY COUNCIL: Several delegations cited the report as 
evidence of the challenges faced by the Security Council in 
recent years. Current SC member Mexico commented that the 
"Security Council agenda has been very substantial, as seen 
in this report." Tunisia said that the report shows the great 
amount of work down by the Council over the last year and 
 
 
stated that the it had acted with determination in examining 
many conflicts. The Republic of Korea said it was grateful 
for the hard work in compiling the report, noting that it 
shows that the Council dealt with multi-faceted issues 
throughout the world. 
Wolff