The L.69 Group is a group of developing countries from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. They form a major bloc that is united by the common cause of achieving the lasting and comprehensive reform of the United Nations Security Council The group currently has 42 countries as its members.
Contents
Introduction
The L.69 Group of Developing Countries is a cross regional grouping of 42 developing countries from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, that is focused on achieving lasting and comprehensive reforms of the UN Security Council.
The Group is bound by the firm conviction that expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership of the Security Council is imperative to better reflect contemporary world realities, and achieve a more accountable, representative, transparent and more importantly a 'relevant' Security Council.
The Group derives its name from the draft document number “L.69” that the Group had tabled in 2007-08, which led to the initiation of the Intergovernmental Negotiation (IGN) process. At that time, the Group’s membership was of 22 member states, which has since increased to 42 developing countries. The Group meetings are held regularly (preferably once a month at PR/DPR level) to coordinate its position on the IGN process currently underway in the United Nations. The Mission of India serves as the Secretariat for the meetings of the L.69 Group of Developing Countries. Some Member States of the L.69 Group of Developing Countries include: St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, India, Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria, Rwanda, Burundi, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Fiji, Ethiopia, Bhutan, Venezuela, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Bahamas, Seychelles, and Ecuador.
On 11 September 2007, the L.69 tabled a draft resolution on the "Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters," which can be found here.
Biographical Profile of the Spokesperson of the L.69 Group
Presently, the Group is represented by its Spokesperson the Permanent Representative of St. Lucia to the UN, H.E. Ambassador Menissa Rambally. Menissa Rambally was appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative of Saint Lucia to the United Nations in May 2012. Prior to her assignment in New York, Ambassador Rambally was Advisor to the Government of Saint Lucia since the re-election of the Labour Administration in December 2011.
Menissa Rambally can be considered a veteran of Saint Lucian and Caribbean politics. She has been to almost every peak of political endeavour, serving her Island as an elected Member of the Legislative Assembly, a Minister of Government, a Member of her Political Party’s Executive Council, a crusading speaker on issues impacting quality of life across the Caribbean and a Political Consultant and Social Policy Adviser to Governments and Organizations throughout the wider Caribbean Region.
Ambassador Rambally re-wrote the pages of Caribbean history when she was first elected to the Saint Lucia Parliament in 1997 at age 21; making her the youngest elected Member of Parliament throughout the English speaking Commonwealth in this Century. Three years later, she went on to become the youngest person in contemporary Caribbean politics to hold full Ministerial office.
For two years, she presided over the number one driving force behind the growth of the Saint Lucian economy when she served as Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation in 2000-2001. Later, she navigated the path of development when she served as Minister of Social Transformation, Local Government and Culture for the period 2001-2006.
Between 1997 and 1999, she served as a Member of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Government of Saint Lucia; was Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation; Acting Minister of Health, Gender Relations and Family Affairs; Acting Minister of Education, Human Resource Development, Youth and Sports; and served as Acting Minister for Commerce, Industry and Consumer Affairs.
She worked full-time in the wider Caribbean Region between 2007 -2011 Ambassador Rambally worked full-time in the wider Caribbean Region between 2007 -2011, where she served as Political Consultant and Social Policy Advisor to several Governments and Political Organizations.
Statements by the L.69 Group
The following statement was made by the H.E. Ambassador Menissa Rambally, Permanent Representative of Saint Lucia to the United Nations, on behalf of the L.69 Group on 14 September 2015:
Mr. President,
I have the honour to take the floor today on behalf of a diverse group of 42 developing countries from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, who are united by a common cause – to achieve lasting and comprehensive reforms of the UN Security Council.
Our Group is bound by the firm conviction that expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership of the Security Council is imperative to better reflect contemporary world realities, and achieve a more accountable, representative, transparent and more importantly a 'relevant' Security Council.
We would like to begin by congratulating you for what you have provided to the General Assembly today.
A landmark and historic decision which fundamentally sets the UNSC reforms process on a text based negotiation path, based on the text and its annexes as circulated vide your letter of 31 July 2015.
As a leading pro-reform constituency, the L.69 Group was one of the first groups, which had complimented you and the Chair for tabling the negotiation text through your letter of 31 July.
To us, it was the outcome of a process that was truly “consultative, transparent and inclusive” as you very rightly alluded to in your own communication.
You also informed the membership through your letter that quote “ given this text’s adherence to GA Decision 62/557, it represents a sound basis upon which member states can engage in text based negotiations during the next phase of the IGN” unquote.
We are therefore heartened to note that this text has been unanimously recognized by the entire GA membership by consensus in today’s decision on UNSC reform, and that it is being carried forward as the basis of our work in the next round of the IGN in the 70th UNGA.
The L.69 Group of Developing countries would also like to place on record our appreciation to the Chair of the IGN, H.E Courtenay Rattray for having steered this process so deftly through ‘mostly troubled waters’ but having emerged a clear winner with this consensus decision on his text today.
It was unfortunate though that the same set of voices who have continued to work actively against any kind of reform process, did not even join in to the simple request of the Chair to provide inputs to the framework document.
Every process in the UN works on the basis of a text, that is populated by the Chair based on views of each and every member state.
But in this case, the anti-reform voices have been completely exposed as by not providing inputs to what has been a most transparent and inclusive process, they have shown to the rest of the membership, that what they fear is not the eventual outcome, but even the very first steps of a tangible text based negotiation path to be initiated in the UNGA.
And therefore the adoption of today’s decision is a game - changing development in the ‘shadow boxing’ that has largely been conducted behind the scenes so far.
Mr. President, today’s UNGA Decision A/69/L.92 clearly establishes two unique firsts.
One it in its OP-2 it clearly “decides to immediately continue IGN on SC Reform” , building on informal meetings held during 69th session, “as well as on the positions of and proposals made by member states reflected in the text and its annex circulated by the PGA in his letter dated 31 July 2015”.
This therefore established that we will commence our work in the 70th GA on the text circulated on 31 July, and work further upon it in the hope to reach the eventual least bracketed text that we are all looking for.
Two, the other significant development vide your today’s decision is also noteworthy. For the first time we do not have a mere “rolling over” but a substantive, concrete formally written official L Document of the UNGA, which has been adopted by consensus by the entire membership. This shift from an oral to a formal UNGA decision is most welcome given its substantive content that firmly establishes text based negotiations on the Chair’s text.
The L.69 Group of Developing countries welcomes both these changes, and applauds you and your leadership in staying the course when it came to the crunch time on this long intractable subject of reforming the UN Security Council.
Mr. President,
As had been wisely said that quote “ the distance is nothing, it is only the first step that is difficult” unquote
With the adoption of this decision formally by the UNGA, we have taken that very important first step that was needed in this long stalled process.
We have traversed seventy years of UN’s life time this year, but today’s collective achievement by the entire membership sets our journey on this subject on a firm footing and on a solid basis, in this organization’s seventieth year.
Over the last years, we were all asking the Chair to produce a negotiation text but we never got one. With this decision in place, we know that we have a text in place that’s recognized undisputedly by the entire membership.
Now, therefore it becomes critical that we move further ahead with a 'results based time line' as an absolute imperative.
As some one had rightly said : “ Goals are dreams with deadlines”, so if we have to UNSC reform as a realistic goal, we need to have a realistic time line as well to reach that goal.
Using facile arguments of not imposing artificial time lines, while calling for fixed time lines in all other UN processes, only reflects of our doublespeak and would epitomize our collective failure to address an issue of urgent and pressing importance.
The following statement was made by the H.E. Ambassador Inga Rhonda King, Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and Grenadines to the United Nations, on behalf of the L.69 Group on 11 February 2015:
Mr. President, I have the honour to take the floor today on behalf of a diverse group of 42 developing countries from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, who are united by a common cause – to achieve lasting and comprehensive reforms of the UN Security Council.
Our Group is bound by the firm conviction that expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership of the Security Council is imperative to better reflect contemporary world realities, and achieve a more accountable, representative, transparent and more importantly a 'relevant' Security Council.
Let me first express our Group’s congratulations to you on your election as the new Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiation Process. Your appointment is a most welcome development as it brings not only fresh leadership but, hopefully, innovative ideas to what has been largely a stalled process.
Mr. President,
In your letter of 16 January by which you invited us to this meeting, you have identified the purpose of this meeting as providing member states with an “opportunity to exchange ideas on how to best structure our work in advance of the resumption of the IGN”.
While we do believe that it is entirely the prerogative of the Chair of the IGN to decide on how he would like to structure the sessions of the IGN, it is indeed a very nice gesture on your part to have involved the member states in that process.
Without elaborating on the substance of the positions held with respect to the question of UN Security Reform per se, and in the spirit with which this invitation was made to the member states, the L.69 Group would like to offer the following suggestions regarding the best way of structuring our work in the upcoming round of negotiations:
One, The IGN was mandated to commence 'text-based negotiations' right from its very inception. The Chair at that time wanted this explicit assurance from member states themselves and to that end more than 138 countries, way more than two-thirds majority, made a formal and written submission to the Chair in 2009 asking him to table a negotiation text, in his capacity as Chair of the IGN process, which could then serve as a basis for our discussions. So, the mandate from more than two-thirds of the membership has already been granted thus making way for you to do what is the only logical next-step to move this process forward.
Two, What is put inside that text is entirely at the discretion of the Chair, indeed it is your prerogative, provided that it is merely a starting point that is not be cast in stone but open to suggestions, amendments and edits from the floor. This will allow for the commencement of actual line by line and para by para negotiations. Such an approach should give those delegations who are concerned about omissions and positions not reflected as intended the assurance that the negotiation text is an evolving document with the flexibility to accommodate constructive views.
Three, We propose that there should be a fixed schedule of meetings, commencing no later than the end of this month, whereby we can discuss each clause of the negotiation text, cluster by cluster, as was enunciated in UNGA Decision 62/557.
Four, We must be very clear of our end objective while structuring the next steps. It cannot be an interminable process. The objective of this IGN process would be like all other Intergovernmental Processes which gradually narrow down the points of differences by arriving at what should be, ideally, a least bracketed text with the maximum possible convergences of opinions, as far as possible.
Five, This is of particular importance! Because this year is a landmark year in the history of the United Nations, and if the United Nations is to be made “fit for purpose”, then its fitness for purpose should begin from its premier arm --- the UN Security Council. All our Heads of States and Governments unanimously called for “early reforms” way back in 2005 and expected a report on their collective call by the end of that session of the GA. However, ten years hence, we are yet to report back to them on what have we achieved. We must correct this for the 70th Anniversary Summit and we must ensure that we have an outcome to show to our leaders when they meet later this year. Mr. President, these, in a nutshell, are a few of our key submissions for your consideration.
But before I conclude, please allow me to also flag a couple of other issues that may pose a challenge in building the momentum that you are trying to give to this process. One such issue is the often repeated call for “consensus to emerge even before the commencement of negotiations” as a pre-condition for beginning text-based negotiations. It is simply an anti-reform position, which suits only the interests of a limited minority of naysayers.
No other process in the United Nations has ever been held back for complete consensus to be established before the Chair tables his zero draft. We, therefore, hope that you would choose to go by what Chairs are normally supposed to do and based on the mandate of the task assigned.
In this case, the mandate given to you from the President of the General Assembly is very clear. H.E. Sam Kutesa, has on more than one occasion, emphasized the imperative of moving to text-based negotiations as the next logical step and has empowered you to proceed on that basis.
Second, it is possible that there may be retrogressive calls asking for us to go back to Rev-2, a compilation dated in 2011. We would like to raise the point that the position of the L.69 Group to fully support the African Common Position is only reflected in the Rev-3 and not Rev-2, and therefore such calls would be tantamount to holding a veto over other Groups positions, which would be inimical and counterproductive to the process. In addition, the Revs remain a compilation text at best, a compendium of all existing positions, repeated several times over, and therefore, cannot be a substitute for a negotiation text.
To conclude, we welcome this invitation to hear our views on structuring your work forward. You also are well aware that, barring one group, everyone in this room is on the same page with respect to offering ideas. However, we do hope that when it comes to making that decision on which ideas you chose to go by, you make a decision that is pragmatic and reflective of the majority.
The following statement was made by the H.E. Ambassador Menissa Rambally, Permanent Representative of Saint Lucia to the United Nations, on behalf of the L.69 Group on 12 November 2014:
Mr. President, I have the honour to take the floor today on behalf of a diverse group of 42 developing countries from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, who are united by a common cause – to achieve lasting and comprehensive reforms of the UN Security Council.
Our Group is bound by the firm conviction that expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership of the Security Council is imperative to better reflect contemporary world realities, and achieve a more accountable, representative, transparent and more importantly a 'relevant' Security Council.
We congratulate you on your election as the President of the 69th UN General Assembly and are heartened by the strong emphasis you have placed in you’re your speeches of the high priority you attach to this long debated subject. We also compliment you for appointing H.E. Ambassador Courtney Rattray, Permanent Representative of Jamaica, as the Chair of the IGN to lead us forward on this important debate. This appointment is a welcome development as it brings not only fresh leadership but hopefully innovative ideas to what has been largely a stalled process so far.
Let me clarify that this statement only pertains to the Agenda Item 123, i.e. "question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Council" and does NOT cover the Agenda Item on Report of the Security Council.
Mr. President,
It is indeed ironic that after ten rounds and seven years of Intergovernmental Negotiations nothing has changed on this subject except the leadership of the General Assembly, who have always tried their best to inject momentum in this process.
The IGN was mandated to commence 'text based negotiations'. 140 countries, way more than two- thirds majority, made a formal and written submission to the Chair in 2009 asking him to initiate a text based negotiation process.
However, we are still conducting negotiations in vacuum, by repeatedly airing statements of known positions, again and again, and pleading to the Chair to conduct negotiations on the basis of a text, just like all other Chairs (appointed by you) do in all other UN processes.
Mr. President,
With the 70th Anniversary Year of the United Nations, just two months away, it simply cannot, therefore be “business as usual”, if we embark upon the next round of the IGN with the same stasis and vacuum that has characterized the last ten rounds.
The process will only move forward if you as the President of the General Assembly mandate the Chair to conduct negotiations immediately on the basis of a text, which is tabled with your full authority and backing.
However, if we allow the self defeating argument of “consensus to emerge even before the commencement of negotiations” as a pre condition for commencing text based negotiations, then we are simply trying to scuttle any forward movement on this process, which only suits the interests of a limited minority of naysayers.
We therefore count upon your leadership, as the President of the General Assembly, to ensure that the 11th Round does not amount to an exercise in statement making, but a real process of negotiations, where delegations and member states focus their energies, line by line, paragraph by paragraph in arriving at a least bracketed text by the conclusion of the 69th UNGA.
As per your own estimates, more than 100 plus Heads of States and Governments in their interventions during the High Level Segment of the 69th UN General Assembly called for urgent reforms of the UN Security Council. All our Heads of State and Governments unanimously made the same request way back in 2005.
It is therefore a courtesy to the sentiment of all our Heads of States and Governments that we provide them with some feedback on what we have achieved on this subject, if anything at all on this process, when they all gather for the 70th Anniversary Summit next year.
We therefore hope that once we commence the text based negotiation process under your leadership, we would be able to provide our leaders, when they meet next year, a platform through which a concrete outcome on this long standing subject could be eventually arrived at.
It was in 1963, fifty one years ago, that this same General Assembly enlarged the membership of the UNSC from 11 to 15. A modest increase of four in the non- permanent category only. Since then the membership of the United Nations has increased from 113 to 193. 80 more countries have been added, but their addition hasn't altered an inch, the composition of the world’s premier body mandated to maintain international peace and security!
We have a truly bizarre situation today, when nearly 75 percent of the work of the Security Council is focused exclusively on the continent of Africa, and yet, ever since its inception, the body does not have, even one permanent member from the whole of the 54 strong African continent.
It is therefore critical that we move further ahead with a 'results based time line' as an absolute imperative. Using facile arguments of not imposing artificial time lines, while calling for fixed time lines in all other UN processes, only reflects of doublespeak and would epitomize our collective failure to address an issue of urgent and pressing importance.
It is our Group's firm conviction that the year 2015, which will be the 70th Anniversary of the United Nations, as well as 10 years following the 2005 World Summit when all our Heads of States/Governments mandated us to achieve early reforms of the Security Council, would be reasonably early, to show progress on that unanimous mandate.
Mr. President,
As the only Group which has increased in membership over the years, and in keeping with our tradition of active support for the reform process, the L69 Group has also put forward a number of proposals for transforming our interactions and deliberations into real negotiations.
As a Group with perhaps the largest convergence of the likeminded countries from the developing world, the L69 has been able to significantly enhance convergences with the African Group and forge a common position. It is a position that embraces comprehensive reforms and has deliberately avoided the 'piecemeal' approach that some of the detractors of any forward movement on reforms have used to hold the process hostage.
Let me reiterate again that the L69 acknowledges and supports the African common position as enunciated in the Ezulwini. Such enhancement of convergences benefits the momentum contributing to the IGN process, which may also be recognized in the negotiation text.
Mr. President,
Today, when we see the inability of the Security Council to respond in a timely manner to pressing issues of war and peace, when we see decisions of the Council being increasingly put to public scrutiny, and large sections of civil society and academia, questioning not just its representativeness but credibility, even to the extent of member states rejecting seats after getting elected, we should be seen to be constructively engaged in restoring the dignity of this premier body by reforming it to reflect contemporary realities.
The L69 Group is committed to playing its part in ensuring that this result, that we all envisage, is not left to future generations, but brought about now and here, under your able stewardship.