Nikki Haley says Trump administration prioritising UN security council reforms

Washington: US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has said that the reform of the UN Security Council is one of the top priorities of the Trump administration as several countries, including India have been demanding it. Haley’s remarks came as US president Donald Trump was set to deliver his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly next week. She said that the Security Council reform was still being talked about. “I know that it’s something that India wants,” Haley told reporters at a White House news conference ahead of the annual General Assembly session from 19-25 September. “Many other countries want it as well. So we’ll have to wait and see,” Indian-American Haley said as she along with National Security Advisor Lt Gen HR McMaster briefed reporters on America’s priorities at the United Nations next week. [caption id=“attachment_4049917” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] US Ambassador to UN Nikki Haley. Reuters[/caption] “On Monday, the president will join senior UN leadership and the leaders of more than 120 other nations to discuss reforming the institution. The president will express support for Secretary General (Antonio) Guterres’ reform efforts. The United Nations of course, holds tremendous potential to realise its founding ideals, but only if it’s run more efficiently and effectively,” McMaster said. Haley, who has received accolades for her diplomatic skills since joining the administration in January, said the president will highlight the UN reform. “It is very, very important. We’ve got a massive reform package being led by the Secretary General that really streamlines not just the processes, but also that budget as it goes forward, and makes the UN much more effective,” she said. “We basically have the president headlining a UN reform effort, which would really support the secretary general. But the impressive part is we asked other countries to sign on to their support of reform and 120 countries have signed on, and will be in attendance. That’s a miraculous number,” she said. Haley said vice president Mike Pence will be doing two very important briefings. “He’s going to do one on Human Rights Council. Now more than ever human rights matters. We say all the time if a government doesn’t take of its people, bad things will happen. And I think we’re seeing that in multiple places, and that’s all the reason why the Human Rights Council really needs to be effective,” she said. “We have offered reform. I think the vice-president will go and not only support the reform, but talk about why it’s needed and the areas that are really needing to be addressed when it comes to human rights,” she added.