Thank you to our briefers we all collectively benefit from your exceptional institutional knowledge and continued close following of the Council’s evolving working methods.
Let me also thank Denmark and Pakistan for your joint stewardship of the Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions.
Underlining the United Kingdom’s approach to working methods is our desire for an action-oriented Security Council that is able to build consensus and reach compromises through constructive and informed debate.
The United Kingdom welcomes today’s open debate, as an opportunity to reiterate our commitment to the full implementation of Note 507, which underwent a significant update under Japan’s leadership of the Informal Working Group last year.
At that time, we were pleased to work with Council members to make amendments to enhance the Security Council’s transparency and accountability, whilst still preserving the important principle of confidentiality, including in areas such as access to historic documentation.
We are committed to responsible and effective penholding, taking into account views of countries concerned and of the region, including in both bilateral discussions and through their participation in relevant Council meetings under Rule 37, and we remain resolute in seeking to build consensus across this Council.
This includes – where appropriate and mutually agreeable – co-penning products as we have done for example, with the African members of the Council on Libya and Sudan.
We note the impact the delay in agreeing subsidiary body chairs this year has had on Committee work, and look forward to working with all current and incoming Council members to come to agreement on a package for 2026 to give incoming Chairs sufficient time to prepare.
As members of the Security Council, we all have a stake in preserving its integrity and upholding its mandate to maintain international peace and security. To that end, the United Kingdom remains committed to working with everyone around this table to continually review the Council’s working methods, in a collective effort to strengthen its effectiveness and efficiency.