Report of the Security Council to the General Assembly for 2020

UNGA75 agenda item 30 

Thank you, President, for convening this debate today. It important for the entire membership to take stock of the work of the 15-member Security Council. Particularly since much of the work of the Council and its subsidiary bodies is relatively inaccessible to those outside it. And yet the Council’s decisions – and indeed its agenda items, and relevant items absent from the agenda – are deeply important to the world as a whole. 

Through you, President, we would like to thank the members of the Council for agreeing and circulating their annual report in a timely manner this year. In terms of content, we would appreciate a more analytical product. With more information on trends and trajectories, especially on regional and country-specific items. I also have a few specific points to highlight, from Canada’s perspective. 

Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) – UNSC collaboration

I had the distinct honour of chairing the PBC during this period. As the only UN body mandated to play a bridging and convening role across the UN’s three pillars, I believe strongly that the PBC’s advice to the Council is important and meaningful. It is particularly relevant in cases of complex and multidimensional crises. 

I was pleased to see the Council make use of this advice on multiple occasions in 2020 – on the impact of COVID‑19 on peacebuilding contexts, in mandate renewals in CAR and Guinea-Bissau, and on regional crises in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin. I urge the Council to continue to seek out and draw upon the PBC’s advice. I know my successor as chairperson, Ambassador Edrees, is keen to have the PBC deliver thoughtful and actionable points in this regard. 

COVID‑19

President, the central issue for us all remains COVID. Its impacts on the most vulnerable, and the need for an urgent global response. While the Council made changes to its methods so it could continue working, it nevertheless took too long to address the consequences of the pandemic, itself. This was a major failure of leadership. Particularly since the Secretary-General, supported by Canada and large number of Member States, issued an almost-immediate call for a global ceasefire to address the pandemic. 

The ability of the Council to convene virtual meetings is important. It enabled continuity of critical operations during the pandemic. It has also facilitated high-level participation by Council members and some briefers, which is an innovation that should continue. But non-Council members have been shut out from participation – even during so called ‘open debates’. This must change. The wider membership has legitimate views and real contributions to make. We expect our colleagues on the Council to take decisions soon to enable this participation. 

Multilingualism, Inclusion

Multilingualism has also suffered during the pandemic and the move to virtual meetings. This has created an inequity for delegations here in New York, which is bad enough. But this is particularly acute when seeking participation from the field, from those closest to conflict situations. 

The secretariat and Council members have been too slow to enable tech solutions, and clearly lagged other organs in the UN System. This is an area of continuing concern to Canada. 

Gender

In this regard, President, I wish to register our continuing concern regarding the participation of women in the work of the Council. Women briefers and experts need to be prioritized by Council members and Council presidencies when building their monthly programmes of work. 

The problem is a lack of ambition not a lack of women in leadership roles in the area of peace and security. For our part, when chairing the PBC including during the COVID pandemic over the past year, Canada with the support of other bureau members and the secretariat were able to expand the participation of women peacebuilders by a factor of five (5) from the previous year. 

Thank you once again, President.