Addressing the General Assembly on the Report of the UN Security Council today, the Maldives urged the adoption of the annual report of the Council to be made as an occasion for more comprehensive engagement of the entire membership of the United Nations. Non-member states of the Security Council should be afforded the opportunity to express their suggestions and share their analysis, Maldives viewed. Furthermore, the Maldives called for an open debate of the Council to be held prior to the finalization of the Council's report.
On the substance of the Report, the Maldives expressed deep concern with regard to the inaction by the Council on a number of issues that is of great importance to international peace and security. The Maldives elaborated on the inability of the Security Council to take concrete action with regards to the situation in Palestine, Syria and in countering the impacts and proliferation of the so-called "Islamic State" as representing one of the gravest failings of our time. That these issues have no
t been meaningfully addressed by the Council negates the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and in international law, said the Maldives statement.The Maldives welcomed the efforts by the Security Council to enhance their accountability, coherence and transparency as well as its efforts to acknowledge greater dimensions of international peace and security, which the Maldives viewed as forming the foundation for a Council that is truly representative of the UN membership. The Maldives noted that the informal meeting of the Security Council on the security dimensions of climate change held in 2013 and the Open Debate on the security concerns of Small Island Developing States held in July this year were two recent initiatives that embodied a necessary recognition of the vast array of security concerns faced by the UN member states. The Maldives stressed the importance of not losing the momentum generated by these events.
The statement was delivered by Ms. Farzana Zahir, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives.
