S/PV.3645 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on the agenda. The Security Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have received photocopies of a letter dated 27 March 1996 from the Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council which will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/1996/224. Following consultations among the members of the Security Council, I have been authorized to make the following statement on behalf of the Council: “The Security Council has reviewed the arrangements for consultations and exchange of information with troop contributing countries, which were established by the statement of its President made on behalf of the Council on 4 November 1994, contained in document S/PRST/1994/62. The Council has given careful consideration to the views expressed on this question in its debate under the item An agenda for peace: peace-keeping' in its 3611th meeting on 20 December 1995, as well as to the views expressed in debates in the General Assembly. “The Security Council has noted the wish expressed in these debates that arrangements for consultation and exchange of information with troop contributing countries should be improved. The Council shares this wish. It considers it essential for troop contributing countries to be heard. It notes that many of the concerns expressed would be met if the arrangements set out in the statement of its President of 4 November 1994 were fully implemented. It is also of the view that those arrangements can be strengthened further as set forth below. “The Security Council will therefore follow in future the procedures here set out: “(b) The meetings will be held as soon as practicable and in good time before the Council takes decisions on the extension or termination of, or significant changes in, the mandate of a particular peace-keeping operation; “(c) When the Council considers establishing a new peace-keeping operation, meetings will, unless it proves to be impracticable, be held with any prospective troop contributors who have already been approached by the Secretariat and who have indicated that they may be willing to contribute to the operation; “(d) The President of the Council will, in the course of informal consultations of members of the Council, report the views expressed by participants at each meeting with troop contributing or prospective troop contributing countries; “(e) The existing practice of inviting to these meetings Member States which make special contributions to peace-keeping operations other than troops — that is, contributions to trust funds, logistics and equipment — will continue; “(f) The monthly tentative forecast of work of the Council made available to Member States will include an indication of the expected schedule of such meetings for the month; “(g) Ad hoc meetings may be convened in the event of unforeseen developments in a particular peace-keeping operation which could require action by the Council; “(h) These meetings will be in addition to those convened and chaired by the Secretariat for troop contributors to meet with Special Representatives of the Secretary-General or Force Commanders, or to discuss operational matters concerning particular peace-keeping operations, to which members of the Security Council will also be invited; “(j) Interpretation services in all the official languages of the Organization will continue to be available; translation of written documents will continue to be available, if possible in advance of the meetings; “(k) The time and venue of each meeting should, where possible, appear in advance in the Journal of the United Nations; “(l) The Council will append to its annual report to the General Assembly information about these meetings. “The Security Council recalls that the arrangements described above are not exhaustive. “The Security Council will continue to keep arrangements for consultations and the exchange of information and views with troop contributors and prospective contributors under review and stands ready to consider further measures and new mechanisms to enhance further the arrangements in the light of experience.” This statement will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/1996/13. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on the agenda.