Remarks by Ambassador Chris Lu at the IGN Negotiations on Security Council Reform

Ambassador Chris Lu
US Representative for UN Management and Reform
New York, New York
20 June 2024

AS DELIVERED

The IGN Co-Chairs have been entrusted with the challenging task of developing a draft text for the Future Compact that offers a vision for reform and reflects the consensus of all IGN members. We understand how difficult this is, and the United States is grateful to Austria and Kuwait for their leadership.

Let me say at the outset that the United States is firmly committed to reform of the Security Council and that we believe that the Compact for the Future, which will ultimately determine the future of the UN system, should include a vision for that reform.

Unfortunately, the latest draft of the Future Compact falls short of this important goal and undermines the modest ambitions of the previous drafts. The latest draft has deleted language on “accelerating Security Council reform.” And more importantly, it has removed or watered down some of the IGN Chairs’ concrete ideas that would allow us to accelerate our efforts.

For example, the IGN Chairs originally proposed giving the Secretariat additional tasks and resources to support the IGN process with additional expertise. This was a concrete idea intended to accelerate progress, but has all but disappeared from the latest draft.

Likewise, the IGN Chairs had originally proposed that they would develop a consolidated model for IGN discussion based on all the models presented this year and any new models presented at IGN next year. This concrete idea would have allowed us to make real progress on reform. Unfortunately, this idea has been watered down in the latest draft.

These concrete ideas are among the most important contributions to the Compact for the Future and could help us make concrete progress on Security Council reform.

The IGN Co-Chairs have demonstrated real vision and leadership in developing these ideas. The United States hopes that these ideas will be reflected in the Co-Chairs’ final submission on the Compact for the Future.

The United States also believes that the text should clearly refer to expanding the permanent seats on the Security Council, an approach that most of us support. As President Biden has said, the United States believes that the Council must better reflect today’s world. That is why we support expanding the Security Council to include permanent representatives for countries from Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

The United States commends the IGN Co-Chairs for making the latest draft more concise. We understand that, as part of the broader pact negotiations, discussions are ongoing about changing certain words and phrases throughout the document to ensure consistency.

Finally, we thank the Co-Chairs for their diligent and tireless efforts to balance competing viewpoints in this difficult drafting process. We look forward to continuing to work with all of our IGN partners and hope that the final version takes us from words to action. Thank you.

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From the United States Mission to the United Nations | June 20, 2024 | Topics: Highlights, Remarks, and Highlights