The United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Haiti is held in the Security Council chamber, with drapes pulled open, at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 3, 2019. UN Security Council looked and acted differently Wednesday with two visible changes -- perennially closed drapes were pulled open and an hourglass was placed on the table in front of the council president, German UN ambassador Christoph Heusgen, who wished to have the chamber "enlightened." (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
by Xinhua writer Wang Jiangang
UNITED NATIONS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- UN Security Council looked and acted differently Wednesday with two visible changes -- perennially closed drapes were pulled open and an hourglass was placed on the table in front of the council president, German UN ambassador Christoph Heusgen, who wished to have the chamber "enlightened."
With the two huge drapes, which had never been opened during the council's previous convenings, pulled wide open, the Security Council looked much brighter as balmy spring sunlight flooded in, while the East River just outside the window sparkled with ripples.
"We want to have an enlightened Security Council. And I'm very grateful for the Secretariat that our intervention to have the curtains opened was successful," said Heusgen, beaming.
"We have now light in the Security Council," he added.
Without a pause, Heusgen introduced another "innovation" -- an hourglass. The president would want the speakers to save unnecessary and overelaborate formalities, avoiding spending too much time in thanking too many people before hitting the point of their speeches.
Holding the "handmade" hourglass in his hands, the German ambassador said sand would begin to trickle down when it is turned. "It's about five and a half minutes. It's a bit beyond node five, which recommends five-minute interventions," he said, adding that "we'd give an extra 30 seconds, as "there is an inalienable right to speak."
Jerry Matthews Matjila, South African UN ambassador, chipped in with the suggestion of leaving the hourglass always there.
Echoing his views, Heusgen said "we will follow the proposal of our South African friend and make a resolution out of this."
"We do this because we believe in the Security Council," said Heusgen, noting that "we believe that this is a very important body. In times when there are many difficult issues on the international agenda, we have to meet the expectations of our citizens, and we have to make this work."
The influence of the hourglass on Wednesday's speakers was immediate and obvious.
U.S. Acting Permanent Representative to the UN Jonathan Cohen cast glances at the hourglass while making his statement, finishing his speech within the newly-suggested speech time limit.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and some other UN officials tried to limit their speeches to one to three minutes, finishing what they wanted to say in the shortest possible time.
The day's Security Council meeting on the issue concerning Haiti ended in 2 hours and 40 minutes thanks to the ingenious "intervention."
