The Ministers of the Countries[1] belonging to the “Uniting for Consensus” Group (UfC) held a meeting in New York today to assess the state of the UN Security Council reform process.
The Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) on Security Council reform during the 72nd UNGA confirmed the existence of areas of convergence, as well as the persistence of diverging views on key aspects of the reform, especially on the items attaining to the “categories of membership” and the question of the “veto”.
Eager to achieve results in the process, UfC Countries reaffirm that the IGN remains the sole legitimate setting for discussion on Security Council reform, in full transparency and with the participation of all UN Member States.
UfC Ministers reiterate the need and the urgency for the membership to agree on a reform model capable of making the future, expanded Security Council more democratic, accountable, representative, transparent and effective, reaffirming that the creation of new permanent seats would hamper the achievement of these goals.
The UfC Ministers therefore call upon all Member States to continue to engage constructively in seeking a fair and equitable compromise solution that meets the collective interest of all 193 Member States of the UN, garnering the widest possible political support from the membership.
UfC Countries invite other Member States and negotiating Groups to explore the idea of creating longer-term non-permanent seats, assigned to UN regional groups and with the possibility of an immediate re-election, coupled with an increase in other non-permanent seats. UfC Ministers believe that this proposal can be the basis for a possible solution able to satisfy the aspirations of the entire UN membership to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security.
The UfC Countries reaffirm their full commitment to continued constructive engagement with the President of the General Assembly, the Chair/s of the Inter-Governmental Negotiations, all Member States and negotiating Groups.
New York, September 26, 2018
[1] Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Italy, Malta, Mexico, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, San Marino, Spain, Turkey
