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Negotiations on the Security Councils reform resumed this month. Five issues are being discussed during the reform process: the size of an enlarged Council, regional representation, question of the veto, working methods of the Council and its relationship with the General Assembly, and categories of membership. Read letter summarising States' positions on the five themes of the negotiations voiced during the first round (March – April 2009). The aims of reform include making the Council more representative of the international community as a whole, including developing countries, improving the efficiency and transparency of its working methods, and making it more democratic and accountable. “In Larger Freedom”, by Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the UN, sets out plans for reform in more detail (chapter 5). Negotiations: Round 2 This round’s goal is for “the membership to advance in more in-depth and more comprehensive negotiations” before moving to a third round. Read details here. According to the Center for UN Reform Education, “several countries from the main factions … were actively rethinking their positions and potentially inching closer to some common ground for compromises”. The analysis referred to a “compromise proposal” put forward by the Uniting for Consensus Group (UfC) during the April meetings, in which it suggested longer-term seats than it had previously endorsed. Germany, a member of the Group of Four which historically has advocated for permanent seats, expressed openness to the alternative of longer-term seats. Read the schedule for the second round of negotiations, and a summary of the Chair’s overview of the first round. Follow the negotiations on the ReformtheUN website, which is tracking the discussions in depth. Child rights and the Security Council The Security Council has primary responsibility, under the UN Charter, for maintaining international peace and security. When a complaint concerning a threat to peace is brought before it, the Council's first action is usually to recommend that the parties try to reach agreement by peaceful means. In some cases, the Council itself undertakes investigation and mediation. It may appoint Special Representatives or request the Secretary-General to do so. The Council began to pay attention to the issue of children and armed conflict when it realised that the use of children in armed conflict had serious consequences for peace and stability. Internal conflicts give rise to displaced families and communities, refugee flows across borders and the use of child soldiers creating the conditions for long-term regional and international instability. Since 1999, the Council has become more active on the issue. While its early resolutions contained mainly generic statements about how children should be treated in conflict situations, from 2001 the resolutions began to contain more concrete requests that addressed the practical reality of children involved in situations of armed conflict. The Resolutions of the Security Council on this issue are: Read CRIN's full briefing on child rights and the Security Council here. Further information
1261 (1999), 1314 (2000), 1379 (2001), 1460 (2003), 1539 (2004) and 1612 (2005)