UN General Assembly
1996

in which the Security Council interacts with non-members so that the Council’s activities become more responsive to the United Nations as a whole. More needs to be done, too, to build the Council’s relationship with regional organizations. Good progress has been recorded to date, but United Nations and regional organizations should meet regularly in order to develop further the appropriate division of responsibilities. The Council also has an important role to play in preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and enhancing the effectiveness of the non-proliferation regime. Australia wants to see improvements in the effectiveness of United Nations sanctions because we recognize that the Security Council’s use of collective sanctions continues to be an important and, at times, contentious enforcement measure. The effectiveness of sanctions regimes could be improved in three ways: clearer drafting of Security Council resolutions; providing specific objectives and realistic time-frames; and through relevant sanctions committees providing clear interpretative guidance on implementation. These are changes that are essential for the Security Council’s dynamism. We need to press ahead with them to ensure