January 4, 2000
In an on-going effort to increase transparency of its work, the Security Council has outlined new procedures designed to keep non-members of the Council better informed about the status of its deliberations. According to a note by the Council President released today at UN Headquarters, an agreement has been reached to make drafts of resolutions and presidential statements available to non-members as soon as they are introduced within informal consultations of the 15-member Council.
The Council also noted the importance of the current practice of briefings conducted by its presidency for non-members. The Council stressed that such briefings should be "substantive and detailed" and should cover elements presented by the President to the press. On another procedural matter, Council members have restated their view that there should be increased recourse to public meetings and have agreed to use "a range of meeting options from which they can select the one best suited to facilitate specific discussions."
In the format of public meetings convened by the Council to adopt action or hold debates, non-members will participate in accordance with the UN Charter, the President's note said. The Council will also convene private meetings to hold various briefings and debates, which any interested non-member may attend. The other format of private meetings would allow attendance by certain non-members whose interests are particularly affected by the matter under consideration, such as parties to conflict. Private meetings will be also used to permit transaction of Security Council business which only members of the Council attend, such as appointment of the Secretary-General.
The composition of the Council changed on New Year's Day with Bangladesh, Jamaica, Mali, Tunisia and Ukraine joining the Council as the five new non-permanent members. They were voted in by the General Assembly last October to replace Bahrain, Brazil, Gabon, Gambia and Slovenia, whose two-year term expired at the end of 1999.
The new membership of the Council is expected to meet for the first time on Wednesday for informal consultations on the Council's programme of work. Today, the President of the Security Council for the month of January, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke of the United States, held bilateral meetings with Council members, according to a UN spokesman.
