Copyright © 2010 by Chester B Cabalza. All Rights Reserved.
On 1 January 2004, the Philippines assumed one of the elected seats in the United Nations Security Council for the term 2004-2005.
As a member of the Security Council, the Philippines will focus its attention and energy on the following objectives:
1.Strengthen the collective security mechanism established under the U.N. Charter.
2.Emphasize the importance of the rule of law in the maintenance of international peace and security. (Its components would include, among others: establishment of institutions to ensure safety and order in post-conflict societies; prevention of impunity by violators of human rights and international humanitarian law; and protection of civilians, their rights and freedoms).
3.Provide a strong basis for a multilateral consensus in pursuing the Security Council’s primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action. Its powers are exercised through United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
The Security Council held its first session on 17 January 1946 at Church House, London. Its current headquarters and secretariat office is located in New York City.
There are 15 members of the Security Council, consisting of permanent members and elected members. This basic structure is set out in Chapter V of the UN Charter.
Security Council members must always be present at UN headquarters in New York so that the Security Council can meet at any time. This requirement of the United Nations Charter was adopted to address a weakness of the League of Nations since that organization was often unable to respond quickly to a crisis.
The Security Council's five permanent members have the power to veto any substantive resolution:
•People’s Republic of China
•France
•Russia
•United Kingdom
•United States
The five permanent members (also known as the P5) were drawn from the victorious powers of World War II, and at the UN's founding in 1946, the Security Council consisted of France, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia. There have been two seat changes since then, although not reflected in article 23 of the Charter of the UN, as it has not been accordingly amended:
China's seat was originally filled by the Republic of China, but due to the stalemate of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, there have been two states claiming to represent China since then, and both officially claim each other's territory. In 1971, the People’s Republic of China was awarded China’s seat in the United Nations by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, and the Republic of China (which had lost mainland China in the war and has been based in Taiwan ever since) soon lost membership in all UN organizations.
Russia, being the legal successor state to the Soviet Union after the latter's collapse in 1991, acquired the original Soviet seat, including the Soviet Union's former representation in the Security Council.
The five permanent members of the Security Council are the only nations recognized as possessing nuclear weapons under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, although some countries with nuclear weapons have not signed the treaty. This nuclear status is not the result of their Security Council membership, though it is sometimes used as a modern-day justification for their continued presence in the body. However, in the present case, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea possess nuclear weapons outside of the anti-proliferation framework established by the Treaty. India, Pakistan, and Israel, however, have actively refused to sign the Non-proliferation Treaty because it does not allow for any new countries to be added to the list of States allowed to possess military nuclear technology.
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