Chapter 2:   PLACE AND FORMAT OF COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS

Section 13:   Other informal formats

 

Five years after their launch in 2019, Council’s informal “Sofa Talks” retain their usefulness

 

During the Security Council retreat with the Secretary-General in May 2019, discussion reportedly turned to the tensions among Council members which, it was widely agreed, were interfering with the Council’s work. It was noted, however, that on a personal basis, the permanent representatives got along very well with each other, and it was wondered how these good collegial connections could be built upon to achieve greater substantive progress.

 

In this context, Ambassador Karen Pierce of the United Kingdom proposed that the permanent representatives occasionally get together informally for unscripted chats, and she offered to host such gatherings.[1]

 

The proposal to hold unscripted chats was implemented almost immediately. Later that same month, Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani of Indonesia, Council President for May, hosted just such an informal gathering. Indonesia called this conversation a “Sofa Talk”, borrowing from the platform used for decades by Indonesia and its fellow ASEAN members as part of their annual high-level consultative process. And in fact, the Indonesian Permanent Mission equipped itself with new sofas in order for permanent representatives, at this first “Sofa Talk”, to actually sit casually on sofas, rather than around one of the Council’s usual meeting tables.

 

Indonesia was keen to put the proposal for informal talks into immediate practice because, from the beginning of its 2019-20 Council term, it had expressed concern over the very evident disunity and distrust among Council members.[2] It had also underscored the need for the Council to transition from “megaphone diplomacy” to a more productive, consensus-building orientation. 

 

At the inaugural Sofa Talks, some general guidelines were agreed, based on the initial United Kingdom proposal, as well as ideas put forward by Indonesia. It was decided that during Sofa Talks, the representatives’ comments should be frank, but also aimed at thrashing out differences in a collegial manner, and at finding commonality. In addition, the ambassadors agreed that their goal for these talks would be identifying specific issues on which the members could thereafter proceed with a more united, problem-solving orientation.

 

To avoid the rigidity which limits the effectiveness of the Council’s other meeting formats, an important component of the original Sofa Talks was that there would be no set agenda. Rather, ambassadors would spontaneously raise any topic. Should a particular subject prove too contentious, the representatives would simply “agree to disagree” and move on. And if there was no real interest in an issue, the ambassadors similarly would discontinue discussing it. On the other hand, if a topic gained traction, representatives were encouraged not only to elaborate their own viewpoints, but also to offer solutions. And it was agreed that where appropriate, one or two ambassadors might volunteer to follow up by returning to their colleagues later on with some concrete proposals.

 

Another aspect of the Sofa Talks aimed at fostering honest, spontaneous discussion is the absence of meeting records or informal summaries. This contrasts with the recording of statements at formal meetings, and detailed leaks from closed consultations, which can inhibit free discussion. Moreover, in order to enhance collegiality among the permanent representatives as a group, it was decided that if a permanent representative was unable to attend, another member of the same delegation would not take their place.

 

After the inaugural Sofa Talks in May 2019, the format caught on quickly. Beginning with Kuwait, the Council President for June 2019, a number of subsequent presidencies have also hosted these informal conversations. In addition, some Council members have organized Sofa Talks at times when they were not serving as president. And, a number of Sofa Talks have been held outside New York, including in the Dominican Republic over the summer of 2019 (humorously dubbed “Surfing Talks” by some Council members), and another in Kentucky, hosted by the United States during its Council presidency in December of that same year.

 

Eventually there was then a lull until Norway organized a “President’s Retreat” at a venue outside New York City during its January 2022 Council presidency. Part of the programme during the retreat was a “Sofa Talk”, but this time with a topic: “Talking with all conflict actors”. Similarly, during its Council presidency of April 2022, the United Kingdom hosted a “Sofa Talk” also with a topic: the use of data and technology to support the Council’s work in conflict prevention and resolution.

 

When, in June and July 2022, Albania and Brazil, respectively, each hosted offsite Sofa Talks, they returned to the original format of having no predesignated topics, but rather let issues arise spontaneously. This was also the format used by China when it hosted a Sofa Talk during its November 2023 Council presidency, and by the Russian Federation, hosting a Sofa Talk during its July 2024 presidency.[3]

 

The fact that the Council’s permanent representatives manage on occasion to fit Sofa Talks into their heavily-scheduled work programme is evidence that they are in fact finding them useful. It also suggests that Sofa Talks provide an appreciated opportunity for free-flowing discussion that is not otherwise commonly available to them.

 

The divisions among Council members on key issues are real and deep, and do not lend themselves to easy solutions. With respect to such issues, an official in the Indonesian Foreign Ministry stated candidly in 2019 that Sofa Talks, owing to their casual nature, are not likely to produce the “strong outcomes expected by the international community”. And a United Kingdom representative speaking at the 2019 open debate on working methods acknowledged that while Sofa Talks are “a positive development,” they are “no substitute for proper Council consideration”.[1]

 

Nonetheless, the original hope remains alive that if Sofa Talks can foster enhanced personal relations and communication among the Council’s permanent representatives, compromises may develop through these conversations that might ultimately translate into at least some concrete forward steps on specific matters before the Council.

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(This update supplements pages 94-97 of the book.)

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[1] During an open debate on working methods the following month, another United Kingdom delegate said of this proposal, “Too often, we have seen members of the Council block or attempt to block discussions of situations that may endanger the maintenance of international peace and security. In that context, the United Kingdom recently initiated a monthly, informal discussion at the level of permanent representatives to encourage a frank exchange among ambassadors on developing threats to peace and security.” (S/PV.8539)

[2] See, for example, the Indonesian statement during a formal meeting on Venezuela held in February 2019 (S/PV.8476).

[3] According to Edith M. Lederer of Associated Press, one of the topics raised by others was “the qualifications of the people Moscow had invited to brief members at the numerous meetings it has called on Ukraine”.