Csaba Kőrösi, President of the 77th session of the General Assembly
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Debate on the annual report of the Security Council
30 June 2023
(As delivered)
Excellencies,
Dear Colleagues,
Thank you for joining today’s debate on the Annual Report of the Security Council.
Let us dive straight into the heart of the matter.
Outside of Turtle Bay, there is only one UN.
To the world, to our eight billion constituents, in the field of peace and security, we serve one basic purpose.
To spare them, and their communities, from the scourge of war.
Car en dehors de ces murs, il n’y a pas grande différence quant à la manière dont les 193 (cent quatre-vingt-treize) Etats Membres s’organisent.
Il n’y que la sécurité, ou le danger – la paix ou la guerre.
Ce qui compte aux personnes, ce ne sont pas les subtilités de nos discussions, ce sont leurs résultats.
Gardant cela a l’esprit, quelle est l’objectif de notre rencontre aujourd’hui ?
(French translation: For those outside these walls, it does not make too much difference how the 193 Member States organize themselves.
There is only safety, or danger – peace or war.
What matters to people, is not the intricacies of our discussions, it is their results.
With this in mind, what is the objective of our meeting today?)
We meet because the Security Council and the General Assembly are complementary bodies.
Meant to work together.
It is often said that successful organizations build cultures of constantly improving efficiency, and never lose sight of their purpose.
We must ask ourselves: Where are we succeeding? Where are we failing?
Our meeting today should be an honest exercise of self-examination.
An exercise in accountability.
The report before us depicts a year fraught with crises, violent conflicts, and wars.
إِنَ قُدرَة المَجلِس على الحِفاظ على السَلام واستِعادَته قد وضِعَت مرةً أخرى عَلى المَحَك هذا العام.
وقَد تَساءَل الكَثيرون: “لِماذا لدينا مَجلس أمْن إذا كانَ أعْضاؤه غَير قادِرين أو غَير راغِبين في إنهاء الحُروب والصِراعاتَ؟”
تَكَرَرَ هذا النَقْد كَثيراً.
(Arabic translation: The Council’s ability to preserve and restore peace has been once again put to the test this year.
Many have asked: “Why do we have a Security Council if its members are unable – or unwilling – to end wars and conflict?”
I hear this critique.)
But let us also acknowledge that the Security Council does serve as the bedrock of our collective efforts to maintain peace across the globe.
On many critical issues, the Council did come together, and it acted.
Firstly, it successfully renewed all UN peacekeeping and special political mission mandates.
An accomplishment that may not make the global headlines but provides life-saving support and stability for millions of vulnerable people around the globe.
On behalf of all those who rely on the UN’s provision of international peace and security, I thank you.
The Council also made other significant strides this year.
The Council established a humanitarian carve-out to UN sanction regimes, providing sustainable aid to millions of people in need.
It adopted the first Council resolution on Myanmar – shedding light on a truly desperate situation.
And we saw many more women briefers than in previous years.
To all Member States: Please continue this positive trend!
As you can see there are peaks – but there are valleys, too.
Unfulfilled mandates and lost opportunities.
Провалы, порождающие серьезные сомнения и ставящие в затруднительные положения.
Назову лишь самые болезненные из них, по которым Генеральная Ассамблея приняла уже 6 резолюций:
Спустя 491 день после вторжения России в Украину Совет до сих пор не принял ни одной ожидаемой миром резолюции об этом явном нарушении Устава ООН и международного права.
Итак, позвольте мне открыть утренние прения с нескольких направляющих вопросов ко всем вам в Генеральной Ассамблее:
Считаете ли вы, что основные проблемы, с которыми мы столкнулись в этом году, хорошо отражены в этом докладе Совета?
(Russian translation: Failures which raise serious doubts and dilemmas.
Let me mention just the most painful of them in relation which the General Assembly has already adopted 6 resolutions:
491 days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Council still owes the world its first resolution on that clear breach of the UN Charter and the international law.
So, let me open this morning’s debate with some guiding questions to all of you in the General Assembly:
Do you feel that the major challenges we faced this year are well reflected in this report of the Council?)
Should such reports be more analytical? Delve deeper into the actions taken? Or the actions not taken?
And what about emerging issues? We know that the crises of unprecedented complexity are undermining the stability on many member states and regions.
I invite you to consider these questions and touch upon them in your interventions.
Remember – the Security Council and the General Assembly are two parts of one whole.
The General Assembly needs further progress on its own reform process. Still, it has on many occasions played an important role in the maintenance of peace and security.
Usually it matters how we get there – but the most important is what we deliver on our promise.
Our promise of a free, safer, more peaceful and more just world, for all. Even, if at the end of the day, delivery largely depends on our national efforts.
The submission of the annual report is the only explicit obligation the Council has to the General Assembly under the Charter.
But making the report and having the debate should not be pro forma, box-checking exercises.
They should serve a purpose.
Today’s debate is meant to help us in the UN do better.
It must be a critical part of the assessment of our work as an institution.
Please keep this front and centre of our discussions today.
I thank you.
