Important Appointment for Jamaican Permanent Rep. to UN

Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations (UN) Ambassador Courtenay Rattray, has been appointed as Chair of the UN Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council reform.

His appointment was announced on Monday, November 10, by H.E. Sam Kutesa, President of the 69th Session of the General Assembly, in a letter to all Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in New York.

Reform of the fifteen-member Security Council has been high on the agenda of the wider UN membership for over 20 years. The impetus behind the reform process gained added political momentum at the 2005 World Summit when world leaders unanimously called for “early reforms” of the Security Council.

An aspect of reform that has received much attention surrounds the question of the size of the permanent membership of the Council, which currently stands at five (US, UK, Russian Federation, France and China).

Also on the reform agenda are issues relating to the categories of membership and the question of the veto power accorded to the permanent members.

The Security has only been reformed once since 1945, when it expanded the number of non-permanent members from six to ten.

Jamaica has been actively engaged in efforts in the reform process and the appointment of its Permanent Representative will give greater prominence to Jamaica’s role and contribution at the United Nations.