Open-ended Working Group on the Question 
of Equitable Representation on and Increase 
in the Membership of the Security Council and 
Other Matters related to the Security Council



		Draft report submitted by the Chairperson


	I.	Introduction


1.	In its resolution 48/26 of 3 December 1993, the General Assembly decided to establish an open-ended working group to consider all aspects of the question of increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Council.
2.	The Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security Council began its deliberations in January 1994. The Working Group submitted progress reports to the General Assembly at its forty-eighth to sixtieth sessions. At those sessions, the Assembly extended the mandate of the Working Group. 
3.	On 23 November 1998, the General Assembly adopted resolution 53/30 in connection with the agenda item of the Working Group entitled “Majority required for taking decisions on Security Council reform”.
4.	In the United Nations Millennium Declaration, Heads of State and Government resolved, in respect of ongoing deliberations on Security Council reform, to intensify their efforts to achieve comprehensive reform of the Council in all its aspects (see General Assembly resolution 55/2, annex, para. 30).
5.	In the 2005 World Summit Outcome of 16 September 2005, Heads of State and Government expressed support for early reform of the Security Council and recommended that the Security Council continue to adapt its working methods (see General Assembly resolution 60/1, paras. 153 and 154).
6.	Following the deliberations of the Working Group, the General Assembly, in its decision 60/568, decided that the Working Group should continue its work and should submit a report to the Assembly before the end of the sixty-first session, including any agreed recommendations. The present report is submitted pursuant to that decision.
	II.	Sixty-first session of the General Assembly


7.	The issue of the reform of the Security Council continues to be among those issues addressed at the annual general debate of the General Assembly. Many Heads of State and Government and other high-level representatives of Member States expressed the views of their Governments on the issue during the general debate of the sixty-first session of the General Assembly, held from 19 to 27 September 2006. 
8.	Member States also expressed their views on the reform of the Security Council when the General Assembly discussed the item entitled “Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters” (item 111) on 11 and 12 December 2006 (see A/61/PV.72-75).


	III.	Proceedings of the Open-ended Working Group during the sixty-first session of the General Assembly 


	A.	Organizational matters


9.	The President of the General Assembly, Haya Rashed al-Khalifa (Bahrain), served as Chairperson of the Working Group. 
10.	Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz (Chile), Ambassador Mirjana Mladineo (Croatia), Ambassador Andreas D. Mavroyiannis (Cyprus), Ambassador Frank Majoor (Netherlands) and Ambassador Ali Hachani (Tunisia), were appointed as facilitators by the Chairperson, on 8 February 2007, to interact with all Member States and to report back to her on the outcome of their consultations by the end of March 2007. 
11.	Later in the process, the Chairperson also appointed Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz (Chile) and Ambassador Christian Wenaweser (Liechtenstein) to carry the consultation process forward on the basis of the report of the facilitators. 
12.	The above-mentioned ambassadors chaired a number of informal meetings and conducted informal consultations with individual and groups of countries.


	B.	Meetings, informal meetings and consultations of the 
Working Group


13.	At its 1st meeting, on 8 February 2007, the Chairperson announced the appointment of the facilitators and held a general exchange of views. 
14.	At the same meeting, the Chairperson proposed five themes for discussion by the Working Group, as follows: “Size of an enlarged Security Council”; “Categories of membership”; “Question of regional representation”; “Question of the veto”; and “Working methods of the Security Council and the relationship between the Security Council and the General Assembly”.
15.	During the sixty-first session of the General Assembly, the facilitators conducted extensive informal consultations with various individual and groups of delegations. They also convened a number of informal meetings of the Working Group. 


	*	Annex I (the report of the facilitators to the President of the General Assembly on the consultations) and annex II (the follow-up report to the President of the General Assembly) are not reproduced in the present draft report but will be included in the final version of the report of the Open-ended Working Group, to be published as Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-first Session, Supplement No. 47 (A/61/47).
16.	From 20 to 23 February 2007, the facilitators separately chaired six informal meetings at which the five themes proposed by the Chairperson were discussed. The facilitators also jointly convened an informal interactive panel discussion on all five themes, on 13 March. A report of the facilitators on the discussions at the informal meetings and the succeeding informal consultations was submitted to the Chairperson on 19 April 2007 and circulated to all Member States on 20 April 2007 (see annex I).*
17.	At its 7th and 8th informal meetings, on 3 and 4 May 2007, the Working Group discussed the report of the facilitators.
18.	At its 9th and 10th informal meetings, on 19 July 2007, the Working Group discussed a follow-up report submitted to the Chairperson and circulated to all Member States on 26 June 2007 (see annex II).*
19.	At its [...] meeting, on [...] 2007, the Working Group considered its draft report to the General Assembly (A/AC.247/2007/L.1) submitted by the Chairperson.


	C.	Adoption of the report of the Working Group


20.	At its [...] meeting, on [...] 2007, the Working Group considered and adopted the present report.


	IV.	Recommendations


21.	At its [...] meeting, on [...] 2007, the Working Group concluded its work for the sixty-first session of the General Assembly. The Working Group decided to recommend that consideration of the item be continued at the sixty-second session of the Assembly, building upon the work done during previous sessions and with a view to facilitating the process of reaching general agreement, bearing in mind the need to complete Security Council reform as an integral part of the ongoing United Nations reform process. To that end, the Working Group recommends to the Assembly the adoption of the following draft decision:
		“The General Assembly, recalling its previous resolutions and decisions relevant to the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council, having considered the report of the Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security Council, which was established pursuant to its resolution 48/26 of 3 December 1993, on its deliberations during the sixty-first session of the General Assembly,1 bearing in mind the United Nations Millennium Declaration of 8 September 2000, adopted by Heads of State and Government,2 in which they resolved, in respect of reform of the Security Council, to intensify their efforts to achieve a comprehensive reform of the Security Council in all its aspects, and recalling the 2005 World Summit Outcome of 16 September 2005,3 in which Heads of State and Government expressed support for early reform of the Council and recommended that the Council continue to adapt its working methods:
		“(a)	Takes note of the report of the Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security Council on its work during the sixty-first session of the General Assembly;1
		“(b)	Notes with appreciation the Chairperson’s initiative to stimulate an active discussion relating to the comprehensive reform of the Security Council by the Working Group;
		“(c)	Urges the Working Group to continue to exert efforts during the sixty-second session, aimed at achieving progress in the consideration of all issues relevant to the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council;
		“(d)	Decides that the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council should be considered during the sixty-second session of the General Assembly so that further concrete steps may be achieved;
		“(e)	Also decides that the Working Group should continue its work, taking into account the progress achieved during the forty-eighth to sixty-first sessions of the General Assembly and drawing on the experience of the sixty-first session, as well as the views to be expressed during the sixty-second session, and also taking into consideration the discussion on the process of implementation of the 2005 World Summit Outcome;
		“(f)	Further decides that the Working Group should submit a report to the General Assembly before the end of its sixty-second session, including any agreed recommendations.”


	Notes
	1	To be issued as Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-first Session, Supplement No. 47 (A/61/47).
	2	See resolution 55/2.
	3	See resolution 60/1.









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