Prof. U. Joy Ogwu

Ambassador and Permanent Representative

Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations

New York, NY

28th October, 2010

As Delivered

My first words must be to thank you, Sir, and to express my appreciation for your introduction of the draft annual report.

I want to state that members of the Council had the opportunity to review and reach agreement on the draft report prior to this meeting. We look forward to its adoption by the Council.

As President of the Security Council for the month of July 2010, Nigeria was responsible for the preparation of the introduction of the annual report of the Council to the General Assembly. During the drafting process, we relied principally on the monthly assessments and the views expressed by all Council members. To ensure that it was accurate and adequately reflected the Council’s work, activities and outcomes, it was revised several times following comments and, sometimes, language provided by Council Members.

The report covers all the meetings of the Council in their various formats, the field missions undertaken by the Council during the period, and the thematic discussions covering a wide range of issues.

Following the precedent set by Viet Nam in 2008 and Uganda in 2009, an informal meeting with Member States to exchange views on the annual report took place on 21 October. As expected, Uganda, in its capacity as President of the Council in July 2009, and the United Kingdom, in its capacity as incoming President of the Council in November 2010, when the report is expected to go to the General Assembly, co-chaired the meeting. It was a very successful meeting, I must say. Not only was it useful for fostering closer working relationships between the Council and non-Council members, but it also served to demonstrate the Council’s openness and responsiveness on the question of its working methods. I must say that it was a very hospitable audience. Indeed, the meeting enhanced the transparency of the Council in the eyes of non-Council members, and we hope that this laudable trend will be sustained in the future.

Finally, I would like to express my delegation’s appreciation and gratitude to all Council members, as well as former members, for their contribution, input and cooperation. Last but not least, we thank and commend the Secretariat for its invaluable support and assistance, without which we would not have had the report in its present form.