8 June 2007

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) met today in a closed session at the United Nations to conduct consultations on the Security Council reform process.

The deliberations took place on the basis of the Report of the five Facilitators, issued in mid-April 2007, and under the auspices of facilitators, Ambassador Christian Wenaweser of Liechtenstein and Ambassador Heraldo Munoz of Chile, and are a part of a larger consultation process, which will ultimately form the basis of an upcoming report to the President of the GA, H.E. Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa due on July 1st, 2007.

During the meeting, it was generally agreed that an expansion of the Security Council is long overdue; however, it remained clear that several questions regarding the right of veto as well as the status and geographical allocation of new seats remain. Furthermore, Member States also cited concerns over the format of the upcoming report; however, the facilitators stressed that it is not intended to be a draft proposal, merely a part in a process eventually leading towards future intergovernmental discussions.