UN: The landmark 70th session of the UN General Assembly commenced here with its new president assuring that he would continue the work of his predecessor on Security Council reforms, following the adoption of a negotiating text on the long-pending process.
Mogens Lykketoft of Denmark, who succeeded Uganda’s Sam Kutesa, will be the president of this session of the 193-member General Assembly which runs from September 2015 to September 2016.
The milestone session, marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the UN, will see over 150 heads of state and government, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pope Francis, descend on the world body’s headquarters from September 25-27 to adopt the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Develo.
Speaking after the opening of the session yesterday, Lykketoft vowed to continue the work done by Kutesa in moving the stalled reform process forward.
“I will follow the track laid out by my predecessor and the work done by Jamaican Ambassador Courtenay Rattray, which was rolled over yesterday to the General Assembly session.
“I will not take stake or point out a specific outcome but I will certainly try to help the process that was started in the 69th session to continue on the basis of the work done there,” he said.
Kutesa achieved a breakthrough in the long-pending Security Council reform process when the assembly adopted a negotiating document by consensus on September 14, boosting India’s bid for a permanent seat in the revamped body and setting the stage for talks to start on the basis of the text for the first time in seven years of the inter-governmental process.
On the urgent need for Security Council reform, Lykketoft said “it is obvious that there are many issues that are not handled by the Security Council. We can of course not know if any kind of reform of the composition will make it different”.
“Without predicting the specific outcome, that is not my job to do, but it is certainly many years ago already that the UN decided we should have reforms so the UNSC would reflect much better the realities of the 21st century,” he said.
In addition to several high-level meetings and thematic debates he will hold over the course of his one-year tenure, the new president said he plans to continue efforts to revitalise the General Assembly’s work and to reform the Security Council.
“I will conduct all activities in as transparent, inclusive and open a manner as possible,” Lykketoft said.