Transparency among nations essential in boosting collective security, says Ban

Underscoring the key role of collective security in preventing conflicts, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for greater transparency in the drive to curb armaments and boost confidence among nations.

“As we know all too well, organizations tend to be better equipped for reacting to developments than for anticipating them,” Mr. Ban told an open meeting of the Security Council on boosting collective security and arms reduction. “But we cannot be passive in the face of threats to international peace and security.”

In the address delivered by Sergio Duarte, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, the Secretary-General said that strengthening collective security can improve trust among countries and in turn blaze the trail for cooperation in other areas.

“No serious discussion on the limitation or elimination of armaments can avoid the topic of improving transparency,” he said, calling on nations to behave in a “predictable” manner to generate confidence.

Member States, through the UN, have developed two means to promote greater transparency. The Standardized Instrument for Reporting Military Expenditures will undergo its first review in 2010, while the UN Register of Conventional Arms, to which Member States can report their arms imports and expert, has seen its scope widened in recent years to include small arms transfers.

More than half of all Member States have participated in both, Mr. Ban said at the meeting that heard from dozens of speakers, expressing hope that there will be even greater involvement and more consistent reporting.

But he cautioned that transparency is only one of several conditions – including irreversibility, verification and how binding agreements are – which the world is seeking to enshrine in global pacts.

“To the extent that such criteria are accepted by States and implemented in good faith, prospects for achieving the full potential of collective security will grow,” the Secretary-General said.

In a presidential statement issued at the end of the day-long gathering, the Council expressed concern at rising military expenditure worldwide, urging appropriate levels of spending and continued commitment to achieve the eight anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The 15-member body underscored the “vital importance of an effective multilateral system to better address… the multifaceted and interconnected challenges and threats confronting our world and to achieve progress in the areas of peace and security, development and human rights, which are the pillars of the United Nations system and the foundations for collective security and well-being.”

The Council, in the statement read out by Ambassador Jorge Urbina of Costa Rica, which holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for November, also emphasized the importance of complying with existing global pacts on non-proliferation, disarmament and arms control.