Working Methods Open Debate
Tomorrow (14 November), the Security Council will convene for its annual open debate on working methods. The meeting will be held under the agenda item “Implementation of the note by the President of the Security Council (S/2024/507)”, referring to the most recent version of the comprehensive compendium of Council working methods adopted in December 2024, which is also known as Note 507. The expected briefers are Co-Chair of the Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions (IWG) Ambassador Christina Markus Lassen (Denmark), Executive Director of Security Council Report Shamala Kandiah Thompson, and Co-Author of “The Procedure of the UN Security Council” (4th Edition) Loraine Sievers.
Denmark and Pakistan, the co-chairs of the IWG, have circulated a concept note ahead of the meeting (S/2025/719). The concept note highlights the importance of the Council’s working methods, noting that they “can contribute to a more transparent, inclusive, effective and efficient Security Council, ultimately allowing it to better uphold its mandate to maintain international peace and security”.
The concept note also sets out several guiding questions for the meeting:
- What specific measures of Note S/2024/507 could be enhanced or updated to contribute to a more transparent, inclusive, effective, and efficient Security Council?
- How can novel working methods approaches be employed to bridge divisions across the Security Council and assess the impact of adopted measures, including Council decisions and resolutions?
- Given the challenges experienced in appointing chairs and vice-chairs of subsidiary bodies for 2025, how might the process outlined in Note S/2024/507 on the ‘Selection of Chairs of Subsidiary Bodies’ be improved?
- What measures could be taken to ensure a fairer, clearer, and more consistent application of rule 37, ensuring meaningful and consistent participation of specially affected states?
- How can the Security Council’s working methods be improved to enhance transparency and inclusivity, considering upcoming processes such as the 2026 Secretary-General selection?
Ambassador Lassen will deliver her statement on behalf of Denmark and Pakistan. She is likely to focus on the implementation of Note 507, the participation of non-Council members under rule 37 of the provisional rules of procedure, and the processes for appointing the Secretary-General and the chairs and vice-chairs of the Council’s subsidiary bodies. In discussing the appointment of subsidiary body chairs and vice-chairs, Lassen might refer to the delay in appointing chairs and vice-chairs for 2025. The impasse, which was not resolved until 29 May, was the longest in the Council’s history. (For more information on the delay, see the In Hindsight in our May 2025 Monthly Forecast.)
Sievers is expected to discuss disputes among Council members relating to working methods that have arisen in the Council chamber during formal meetings, such as disagreements regarding rules 37 and 39 of the provisional rules of procedure. Kandiah Thompson will focus on the use of informal meeting formats, the appointment of subsidiary body chairs, and the process for selecting the next Secretary-General.
Some permanent members (P5) may refer to the need to find an appropriate balance between public and private meetings, invitations to briefers under rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, and the possible streamlining of the Council’s agenda. Other areas that might be covered include sanctions; cooperation with host governments of UN peace operations and regional organisations; and expansion of the current penholder system.
The Council’s ten elected members (E10) have presented a joint statement at the annual open debate on working methods every year since 2019. This year’s joint statement will be delivered by Pakistan, the E10 coordinator for the month of November. The E10 statement might cover the appointment of subsidiary body chairs, the need for a more equitable distribution of penholder roles between the P5 and the E10, the relationship between the Council and the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) and the ongoing 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review (PBAR), engagement between the Council and regional organisations, and the principle of full access to Council documentation for all Council members. The statement may also refer to the role of the Security Council in appointing the Secretary-General. (At the time of writing, Council members were negotiating the joint letter from the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council regarding the appointment of the next Secretary-General, which was called for by General Assembly resolution 79/327 of 5 September. Although there are some areas that may be contentious, most members appear keen to issue the joint letter, which is expected to provide guidelines for the nomination of candidates and will mark the formal start of the selection process before the end of the year.) Other areas that might be addressed include the work of the Council’s sanctions committees and the need for comprehensive reform of the Council.
As in previous years, members of the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency Group (ACT), a cross-regional group of 27 small and mid-sized states that aims to improve the work of the Council, are expected to deliver a joint statement at the open debate. The statement might focus on improvements to the process for appointing subsidiary body chairs, the process for selecting the next Secretary-General, and the transparency of the subsidiary bodies’ work. The statement may also offer some suggestions for further codifying the Council’s working methods.
The wider membership continues to have a strong interest in the Council’s working methods. Speakers may refer to the increasing use of the veto and the role played by the “veto initiative” in the General Assembly (in line with resolution 76/262 of 26 April 2022), comprehensive reform of the Security Council, and obligatory abstention on Chapter VI resolutions by parties to a dispute pursuant to Article 27(3) of the UN Charter.
