Remarks by Mr. Kenzo Oshima
Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations
At the Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters Related to the Security Council
New York
19 July 2007
Madam President,
I would like to begin by thanking you once again for your leadership to initiate the Facilitators' process under your authority, in order to move forward the unfinished business of Security Council reform. I thank you also for convening this informal meeting to discuss the report submitted to you by Ambassador Muñoz of Chile, and Ambassador Wenaweser of Liechtenstein, to both of whom we express our gratitude for their great effort in producing the report.
No doubt, the process you initiated, Madam President, has contributed significantly to maintaining the momentum toward the early realization of Security Council reform. The importance of this cannot be overemphasized because, as the report clearly confirms, the status quo is not acceptable to many Member States and United Nations reform would be incomplete without meaningful reform of the Security Council. Your appointment of the Facilitators, in two stages, and their commitment to wide-ranging consultations and the reports they produced, constitute a significant step toward preparing a useful basis for further work on this vital issue, while keeping the necessary momentum alive.
Madam President,
I wish to take this opportunity to reiterate Japan's continuing belief that the Security Council must be reformed at the earliest possible time and that this should be done through changes that include expansion of both the permanent and non-permanent categories in its composition, for both developed and developing Member States. Such an expansion should improve the qualitative as well as quantitative representation of developing and developed countries and thus increase the effectiveness of the Council's work and its legitimacy as the key organ responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security.
We will continue to pursue this goal. In pursuing this, substantial improvement of the Council's working methods should also be addressed, and due consideration should be given as well to the interests of small States in arriving at a final outcome.
Madam President,
Let me offer a few comments on the two Ambassadors' report.
This report, together with the earlier report of the five Facilitators, attempts to refine an option along the line of the intermediary approach. While we take note of certain motivations that prompt the elaboration of such an approach, Japan continues to support reform of the Council through the expansion of both the permanent and non-permanent categories, as I just mentioned. In this context, I would like to recall that a significant number of Member States continue to support Security Council reform in line with such a position. And we had hoped that such a position would be adequately reflected in the report, but I must express our disappointment at the fact that we fail to see this as we read the report.
On the issue of working methods, Japan continues to attach great importance to the subject and expects further progress in that area.
Madam President,
Thanks to your leadership, the momentum for Security Council reform has been revived. This renewed momentum must be maintained and even strengthened as we enter the next session of the General Assembly.
I also concur with the view expressed in your letter that the next stage should consist of intergovernmental negotiations. After more than a decade of debate on this issue since the early 1990s, we have reached a stage where, building upon the current momentum, we should now take action including initiating intergovernmental negotiations, so that we may achieve a concrete outcome during the 62nd session of the General Assembly.
Towards that end, it is hoped that world leaders assembling for the General Debate in September this year will renew their support for that goal, in implementation of the Outcome document they adopted in September 2005. It is also hoped that the President of the General Assembly will continue to provide the necessary guidance and leadership on this vital question. Likewise, interested Member States or groups of States should be encouraged to submit concrete proposals that will help achieve that goal.
Japan will participate in the forthcoming intergovernmental negotiations actively and in a flexible manner, with a view to achieving meaningful reform of the Security Council. And we call upon other delegations to engage in the negotiations in like manner, so that we may accomplish this task together.
Thank you, Madam President.
Related Information (United Nations Reform)
Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations Official Web Site 
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