Bahrain participates in UNSC debate

New York, June 17 (BNA): The Kingdom of Bahrain joined the world states in participating in a video conference debate under the theme of “Agility and innovation: Lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic”, held on Wednesday at the UN Headquarters in New York. The Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Nations in New York Ambassador Jamal Faris Al-Ruwai gave a written statement in which he stressed the importance of developing the Security Council’s working methods. He added that this is required because the Security Council is the main organ concerned with the maintenance of international peace and security and thus its role should be concrete under all circumstances and at all times. He also valued the efforts of successive presidencies since the beginning of the Corona pandemic, which led to the Council's continuation to carry out its responsibilities through innovative methods, especially with regard to the remote voting process, which contributed to the adoption of many decisions that are important to maintain international peace and security. The permanent representative praised the efforts of the previous presidencies of the informal working group on documents and other procedural issues, especially the previous presidency of the sisterly State of Kuwait, which contributed to the issuance of many important documents related to the Council's working methods with the aim of enhancing its efficiency and transparency and how it deals with issues of importance. He explained that the pandemic demonstrated the need for the international community in general, and in particular the Security Council, to develop clear working methods that take into account all circumstances, especially those during which it is impossible to meet effectively. He pointed out that the innovative work methods adopted by the Council created a number of opportunities that could be built upon for its future meetings. In this context, he indicated that the experience of the Council during the period of the global spread of the pandemic can enrich the conduct of more objective and interactive consultations and increase the participation of non-members of the Council in its work, as necessary. This is, he said, especially since the virtual meetings allowed the participation of high-level specialists from capitals, adding That the council could consider developing virtual participations in the future. The Permanent Representative also emphasized the importance of facilitating the chairpersons of the Council's subsidiary bodies, including the chairs of the sanctions committees, to provide periodic briefings on their activities to Member States. He pointed out the possibility of benefiting from the experience of virtual work to increase interaction between these bodies, committees, and Member States of the United Nations. The permanent representative expressed the Kingdom of Bahrain’s aspiration to continue holding sessions on developing the Council’s working methods on a regular basis, as it is of interest to all member states that aspire for the Council to work in the best possible way, and for its working methods to keep pace with the continuous changes. He added that these sessions allow for reviewing the progress made in this regard, learning about the aspects of development, and listening to many different visions and opinions about ways to deal with them.