NEW YORK: The majority of veto appliance cases at the UN Security Council in the past three decades have been related to causes in the Arab region, a Kuwaiti diplomat has said.
Fahad Mohammad Al-Hajji, the first secretary in Kuwait’s mission, was addressing the UN General Assembly during a debate on just representation in the UNSC and prospects of increasing its members, reported Kuwait’s News Agency on Saturday.
Al-Hajji said he deeply regretted that the majority of veto cases involved the Arab region.
He said his country has brought to the spotlight reforming the UNSC, affirming that “arbitrary usage of the veto right” has compromised its credibility in some cases.
He added: “The usage of the veto led in some cases to preventing the council from shouldering responsibilities and taking the necessary precautions to preserve international peace and security.
“There is also another challenge. That is, setting the just and adequate representation of the geographic and regional groups, in addition to improving the task methods where it has become necessary to make actions more effective and transparent.”
Al-Hajji welcomed the appointment of Ambassador Tareq Al-Bannai, as Kuwait’s permanent delegate at the UN, and Ambassador Michal Mlynar, Slovakia’s permanent envoy, as chief personnel in the government-level negotiations on reforming the UNSC.
He expressed gratitude to Qatar’s peer, Ambassador Alya Al-Thani, and the Danish counterpart, Ambassador Martin Hermann, for their leading roles in the negotiations.
The senior diplomat said world events “should prompt us to exert more efforts to push forward the government-level negotiations on fixing the Security Council.”
However, Al-Hajji said efforts to reform the council had foundered due to the lack of “the required political will on the part of the member states, including the five permanent members.”
Noting Kuwait’s unwavering stance for reforming the UNSC, the first secretary pointed out that the council should be transformed to become more representative and mirror the “status that has changed a lot since the establishment of the United Nations in 1945.”
He renewed the call for granting Arab states the right to occupy permanent seats in the UNSC, in addition to increasing the number of their non-permanent seats.
The Arab Group in the UNSC represents more than 400 million people and comprises 22 states, nearly 12 percent of UN memberships.
Kuwaiti diplomat says arbitrary usage of veto compromises UN Security Council credibility
https://arab.news/4p75j
Kuwaiti diplomat says arbitrary usage of veto compromises UN Security Council credibility
- Regrets over Arab region involving majority of cases
- First secretary addresses General Assembly
Drone attack by paramilitary group in Sudan kills 24, including 8 children, doctors’ group says
- Saturday’s attack by RSF occurred close to the city of Rahad in North Kordofan province, said the Sudan Doctors Network
- The vehicle was transporting displaced people who fled fighting in the Dubeiker area
CAIRO: A drone attack by a notorious paramilitary group hit a vehicle carrying displaced families in central Sudan Saturday, killing at least 24 people, including eight children, a doctors’ group said, a day after a World Food Program aid convoy was targeted.
Saturday’s attack by the Rapid Support Forces occurred close to the city of Rahad in North Kordofan province, said the Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks the country’s ongoing war.
The vehicle was transporting displaced people who fled fighting in the Dubeiker area, the group said in a statement. Among the dead children were two infants.
Several others were wounded and taken for treatment in Rahad, which suffers severe medical supplies shortages, like many areas in the Kordofan region, the statement said.
The doctors’ group urged the international community and rights organizations to “take immediate action to protect civilians and hold the RSF leadership directly accountable for these violations.”
There was no immediate comment from the RSF, which has been at war against the Sudanese military for control of the country for about three years.
Sudan plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country, leaving tens of thousands dead and millions displaced.
