NAM calls for reforms in UN Security Council decision-making mechanism

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which has around 120 member states, has called for the reformation of the decision-making mechanism at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

In order to increase transparency in the performance of the UNSC and the efficiency of its methods as well as forging a balance in the council’s approach toward non-member countries, the body should eliminate its inefficiencies, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Mohammad Khazaei, who also heads the NAM’s Coordinating Bureau, said.

The Iranian NAM official made the remarks in an address to an open debate on the transparency and efficiency of the UN Security Council.

Khazaei added that the UNSC should also pay attention to the regulations defined in the UN Charter regarding non-member states as well as resolutions that clarify the relations between the United Nations’ General Assembly and its other organizations.

Referring to the NAM’s recent summit in Tehran in August, Khazaei said the movement’s leaders have stressed the necessity for the UN member states to respect the authority of the United Nations’ different organizations and called for the maintenance of balance between these bodies within the framework of the UN Charter regulations.

The 16th NAM Summit was held in the Iranian capital on August 26-31 in which representatives from more than 100 countries participated.

Iran assumed the rotating presidency of the NAM for a three-year term during the summit.

Khazaei also stressed the necessity of paying attention to the views of the countries that are not members of the council but whose interests are directly affected by the UN body’s decisions.

“Transparency, accountability and coherence,” he said, “are among the key factors that the UNSC must observe in all of its activities, approaches and methods.”