G4 backs Africa’s push for permanent UN Security Council seats
Foreign ministers of the G4 countries—Brazil, Germany, India and Japan—have backed Africa’s demand for permanent membership on the UN Security Council. Read More: https://punchng.com/g4-backs-africas-push-for-permanent-un-security-council-seats/
The Foreign Ministers of Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan, representing the G4 countries, have expressed support for Africa's push for enhanced representation in the United Nations Security Council, including permanent membership. In a joint statement issued after their meeting in New York on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, the G4 ministers welcomed the African Group's reform model and reiterated their backing for Africa's case for more representation.
They emphasized that the current structure of the 15-member Security Council, established nearly a century ago, no longer adequately reflects contemporary geopolitical realities, stating that its representativeness, legitimacy, credibility, and efficacy are under scrutiny. The G4 called for expanding the Council in both permanent and non-permanent categories, emphasizing the need to improve the representation of under-represented regions, notably Africa, the Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The ministers recognized historical injustices in current Council representation and called for greater participation by countries that significantly contribute to maintaining international peace and security. Despite Africa currently holding only three non-permanent seats, the African Union advocates for at least two permanent seats for Africa, with the same privileges and prerogatives as existing permanent members, including the veto.
The G4 highlighted the failure of the Intergovernmental Negotiations over the past 18 years to produce substantive reform outcomes and expressed concern over the lack of progress. They stressed that consensus alone should not determine decisions on Security Council reform, citing the UN Charter and the Intergovernmental Negotiations' mandate.
The ministers vowed to collaborate with other reform-oriented groups to develop a consensus-based model and prioritize commencing text-based negotiations to achieve meaningful Security Council reform.
Written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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