Security Council Must Not Become Platform for Disinformation, Speakers Stress, as They Propose Ways to Improve Work Methods, Surmount ‘Record’ Political Deadlock

Security Council Must Not Become Platform for Disinformation, Speakers Stress, as They Propose Ways to Improve Work Methods, Surmount 'Record' Political Deadlock

In a day-long open debate centring on its working methods, the Security Council opened its doors to the wider UN membership for a discussion on how to improve the organ's ability to maintain international peace and security on their behalf.

Currently, the principal framework governing the Council's working methods is Presidential Note 507, most recently issued in 2024, which provides a list of practices and agreed measures to guide its work. Today's debate - which occurs annually - provides an opportunity for Council members and the wider UN membership to weigh in on how the Council can be more transparent, inclusive, effective and efficient despite divisions among its members.

"Our experience has led us to conclude that, while working methods cannot resolve political differences, they are essential in helping members navigate those differences," said Shamala Kandiah Thompson, Executive Director of Security Council Report. She described several areas where working methods can help bridge Council divides, including the allocation of chairs for subsidiary bodies and the process for selecting the next Secretary-General.

Record Delays in Choosing Subsidiary Body Chairs

While delays in the allocation of these chairs is not a new problem, she said that delays over the past two years "have been of a different scale". In 2025, their allocation was not agreed until late May and, in 2026, there is still no agreement. This is now the longest period without agreed chairs and vice-chairs since 1979, she said, adding that the impasse is linked to disagreement over who will chair the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1737 (2006) - "and the broader dispute over the reimposition of sanctions on Iran through the 'snapback' mechanism".

Consequently, working groups are not functioning, sanctions committees are not briefed and important accountability mechanisms are weakened. To avoid these delays "becoming a yearly occurrence", she suggested that the Council consider decoupling uncontested appointments from disputed ones. Additionally, the Council could pursue two-year terms for chairs, strengthen the role of vice-chairs and clarify what happens during a prolonged impasse.

Turning to the process for selecting the next Secretary-General, she recalled that "one of the main criticisms of the 2016 process was the limited transparency around the straw polls". While results circulated quickly, their unofficial nature risked spreading inaccurate information. She therefore urged the Council to consider whether official disclosure could provide greater certainty about the accuracy of the results.

Concluding, she reiterated that working methods cannot resolve political differences. "But they can help the Council manage these differences, preserve its ability to function and make better use of its tools," she said.

Recommendations to Identify Gaps, Build Bridges, Engage Wider UN Membership

Following Ms. Thompson's briefing, nearly 60 speakers took the floor to identify gaps and offer recommendations to improve the Council's work, including the representative of Liberia, who spoke for the Council's 10 elected members. He urged that Note 507 "remains a living document, reviewed and adapted as practice reveals operational gaps and as experience demonstrates where existing safeguards are insufficient".

Further, he said, the Note should be updated to include time-bound contingency arrangements to address the unprecedented delay in appointing the subsidiary body chairs and vice-chairs. He also proposed aligning the tenure of appointed chairs and vice-chairs more closely with the two-year mandate of elected members, which could help preserve operational stability and avert paralysis.

Transparency must also guide the ongoing selection and recommendation of the next Secretary-General, he said, with the Council keeping the broader membership regularly informed in a structured, timely manner. "The strength of the Security Council does not rest only on the powers conferred to it by the Charter," he said. "It also rests on the confidence that Member States place in the Council to exercise those powers fairly, effectively, transparently and responsibly."

Divisions among Permanent Members in Sharp Focus

As the Council's permanent members took the floor, divisions referenced by Ms. Thompson were in full view.

While thanking those Council Presidents who have ensured that the "most urgent committee business can continue", the representative of the United Kingdom said that these efforts are "no substitute for a solution" to the deadlock on subsidiary body chairmanships. The unprecedented impasse is "unacceptable", said France's representative, who stressed that the Council, as an executive organ, "cannot be reduced to a mere platform for advocacy" or disinformation. She cautioned against turning the Council "into a circus by inviting outlandish briefers".

Meanwhile, the representative of the Russian Federation expressed regret that the organ's agenda continues to be "diluted" by the addition of issues that fall outside its mandate. He warned that many draft resolutions are "divorced from reality, have not been coordinated with their key implementers and carry an openly confrontational charge". Similarly, China's representative said that forcing votes on controversial draft resolutions significantly undermines their weight, calling on Council members to respect one another and manage their differences properly.

For her part, the representative of the United States said that the intergovernmental process of selecting the next Secretary-General must allow the election of the best candidate. "This is why the United States takes exceptional issue with the President of the General Assembly's overreach in this process," she said, noting the issuance of two letters to the Council claiming the organ had acted improperly.

Wider UN Membership Offers Ideas for Strengthening Transparency, Inclusivity

However, as the floor opened to the wider membership, some delegations urged that the Assembly's role in this process be strengthened. The representative of Egypt called on the Council to "clearly announce its timetable and working procedures" and maintain regular communications with the General Assembly President and the wider UN membership.

Japan's representative also called for greater transparency, inclusivity and predictability in selecting the next Secretary-General. However, he added that the process has seen "very little meaningful change, despite our repeated calls". The representative of New Zealand, speaking for the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency Group, stressed that "transparency does not weaken the Council's role, it strengthens the legitimacy of its recommendation to the [Assembly]".

Concerns were also expressed over the impasse in appointing subsidiary-body chairs, as Germany's representative stressed that, when the Council is inefficient or paralyzed, "it weakens faith in the United Nations". To overcome the stalemate, the representative of the Republic of Korea offered a suggestion, whereby the monthly Council President, alongside those of the previous and subsequent months, could lead the bodies as a "troika" when chairs remain unappointed.

Yet, Zimbabwe's representative - noting that his delegation will soon join the Council - said that any discussion on this issue must be handled without prejudicing any delegation's position and should avoid creating new precedents.

Another common thread was the impact of Council decisions on those States without a Council seat. On that, Cuba's representative expressed concern that the organ "continues to adopt decisions without heeding the concerns of States that are not [Council] members". Emphasizing that transparency underpins the Council's credibility and efficacy, the representative of Singapore called for more meetings to be held in an open format with greater participation by concerned Member States.

Calls to Restrict Veto Use, 'Serve Africa Better', Lead by Example

"Methods of work are not a minor issue," underscored Mexico's representative, pointing to the Council's inability to act in the face of some of the most serious threats facing humanity today. In that regard, he spotlighted the France-Mexico initiative aimed at restricting the use of the veto in situations that involve mass atrocities, which has the support of 120 Member States.

"Although the Council's working methods remain the prerogative of its members, the broader UN membership - on whose behalf the Council acts - has a legal and moral stake in their consistent implementation," said Bulgaria's representative. Spotlighting the issue of "specially affected" countries - who can participate in Council meetings under rule 37 of the rules of procedure - she urged that a State's "geographical proximity to a military conflict" meet this threshold.

Nigeria's representative, along those lines, suggested that the Council adopt defined criteria under which a State qualifies as "specially affected", which could include States named in the resolution under discussion, States neighbouring an active conflict and relevant troop- and police-contributing countries.

In that vein, the observer for the African Union pointed to the many items on the Council's agenda that concern African countries. "Where working methods function poorly, the cost is measured in African outcomes," he observed. Calling for institutionalized African Union participation in Council meetings, he added: "A Council that hears before it decides, that shares its pen with those who hold its mandates and that keeps its subsidiary machinery working, will serve Africa better."

Recalling his delegation's recent Council tenure, Slovenia's representative urged Council members to "move beyond your scripts, engage frankly with one another and focus on finding solutions". And, while he agreed with the suggestions of many delegations today, he acknowledged that "none of these proposals will resolve the geopolitical divisions that confront this Council". Rather, Council members must, ultimately, reflect on their own conduct in the chamber.

Quoting Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho, he concluded: "The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion."