Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah on Wednesday evening attended the open session of the Security Council under the title “Leadership in Peace” on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly's High-Level Week in its seventy-fifth session in New York City, United States.
At the beginning of his speech, His Excellency thanked the Republic of Slovenia for organising the session, and praised its position in support of efforts to strengthen international peace and security, particularly its participation in the international consensus and its historical recognition of the State of Palestine.
The Foreign Minister said: “The meeting is taking place at a time when the pace of conflict and crises is increasing, common challenges and threats are growing, and a crisis of confidence in the multilateral international system and its ability to deliver on people's hopes for a future of peace and development is growing.”
“Under these circumstances we need to evaluate the state of international multilateral action and the reasons for the retreat from resolving crises and addressing common challenges. Perhaps it has become more urgent than ever to seriously consider accelerating the process of Security Council reform,” they stressed. “We reiterate our commitment to the UN Security Council, and we emphasise that restoring respect for international conventions and norms comes through enforcing international law and international humanitarian law, and holding violators accountable without selectivity.”
The Foreign Minister said the challenge is not limited to the inability of the peace and security system and international institutions to respond to these challenges, but also includes the absence of “leadership for peace”. He said: “Peacebuilding requires courage in taking difficult decisions. Behind every obstacle to the path to peace and political solutions, we find certain political leaders whose personal interests and partisan considerations take precedence over collective interests and regional and international peace, and in particular the efficiency of international organisations and the Security Council in the discharge of their duties.”
Pointing out that the absence of serious international action to stop Israel's ongoing military escalation is conclusive proof of the shortcomings and weakness of international political will, from which the multilateral international system suffers, he said the Kingdom believes that peace is the foundation that paves the way for cooperation and development, and is the safeguard of their stability.
The foreign minister said: “To break the cycle of violence and crisis, we must empower responsible international leadership and thwart attempts to export narrow political interests at the expense of peoples’ security and coexistence. We are committed to strengthening collective action to achieve security and common development by empowering the multilateral international system, enabling it to grow, realize its goals and restore trust in its institutions.”
The session was attended by the Kingdom’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Wasel, and the Director-General of His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ Office, Abdul Rahman Al-Dawood.