The State of Qatar expressed its support for the reform of the United Nations (UN) Security Council and called for improvements in the Council's working methods and decision-making mechanism, stressing the importance of interaction and dialogue with non-members of the Council to enhance its efficiency and transparency.

This came in a statement delivered Tuesday by Second Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the UN Talal bin Rashid Al Khalifa, at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly on the item "Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council".

The statement explained that the State of Qatar supports comprehensive reform that makes the Security Council more inclusive, democratic and representative of all regions, adding that the reform should reflect the prevailing geopolitical realities in today's world. It pointed out that the process of negotiations called for providing opportunities for the small and medium sized Member States in the Council in order to enhance its accountability, transparency and legitimacy and effectiveness.

In the statement, the State of Qatar affirmed that any reform of the Council should go hand in hand with improvements in the Council's working methods and decision-making mechanism, pointing out that interaction and dialogue with non-members of the Council, through informal interactive meetings, contributed to enhancing the efficiency and transparency of the Council.

In its statement, the State of Qatar reiterated that the veto is a central issue to the Council's reform process, explaining that experience had shown that restricting or refraining from using it help to prevent serious crimes such as war crimes, genocide or ethnic cleansing.

The State of Qatar added that the increasing challenges facing the international community in the area of international peace and security represent an incentive for the Member States to move forward in the negotiations to achieve a comprehensive reform of the Security Council and to make it more capable of dealing with those challenges.

The statement by the State of Qatar at the UN General Assembly on the item "Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council" stated that the progress made in the negotiations and the identification of some elements of convergence, thanks to the will of all, calls for intensified efforts and greater flexibility in the process of reform, which make the UN more powerful and effective, despite the complexity of the issues involved and the negotiation process for many years.

The statement added that the process of reforming the Security Council remained an important subject of the UN's credibility, fulfilling its functions as envisaged in the UN Charter and making it more representative, effective and transparent.

The statement stressed that the success of the reform process requires adherence to the terms of reference of that process, particularly the interdependence of all major negotiating topics and their common elements, as contained in General Assembly resolution 62/557, explaining that any attempt to reform the Security Council will not succeed if it is limited to only one side ignored the other elements.

In its statement, the State of Qatar stressed the important role played by the General Assembly on issues relating to the maintenance of international peace and security in accordance with Article 11 of the Charter, including the recommendations to the Security Council, noting that the complementary relationship between the Security Council and the General Assembly is vital and crucial to the balance of the UN work.

The statement stressed that the commitment to the objectives of the reform process, first requires commitment to the UN purposes and objectives in peace, security, development and human rights, emphasizing that any violation of the Charter and international law weakens the UN role, undermines the credibility of its organs, and affects international efforts to strengthen the UN's mechanisms for the maintenance of international peace and security.

It added that the threat of state sovereignty, the threat of military intervention and the use of force against states pose a challenge to the mandate of the Security Council and the international community and constituted a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, international law and resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council.

At the end of the statement, the State of Qatar stressed that it would continue to abide by the mechanisms of international cooperation and to participate positively in the governments' negotiations for the reform of the Security Council with a view to reaching an effective and accountable Council capable of taking timely decisions for the maintenance of international peace and security.