Thank you, Madam President.
The UK is honoured to present the draft annual report of the Security Council to the UN General Assembly today and I hope that Council members will support its adoption. As the President of the Security Council for the month of August in 2018, the UK was responsible for coordinating the drafting of the introduction to the Report.
The draft report provides a summary of the actions that the Security Council took in 2018 to maintain international peace and security. This Council carries out this responsibility on behalf of all UN Member States, as set out in Art 24 of the Charter, and the Annual Report is an important mechanism for keeping the wider membership informed of our activities.
We look forward to hearing the reflections of Member States on the Annual Report during the forthcoming General Assembly debate and we encourage future presidencies to report to Council members on relevant suggestions and observations raised during the debate in line with paragraph 138 of Note 507.
In drafting the introduction, the UK has aimed to provide a brief description of the key activities and trends in the Council during the reporting period. I hope that the draft offers a clear and readable account of the Council’s work in 2018 that will serve as a useful reference for UN Member States and other readers such as academics, civil society and the general public.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that made a contribution to the draft. In particular, I would like to thank those delegations that were members of the Council in 2018 for their valuable input into successive drafts of the introduction. I would also like to thank the Secretariat for its support during the drafting process, particularly staff in the Security Council Affairs Division of the Department for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, who prepare the bulk of the report and who offered useful guidance and suggestions during the drafting of the introduction.
Thank you.
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