India, Germany, Brazil and Japan collectively call to expedite Reforms in United Nations

As the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly is underway, on Wednesday the Foreign Ministers of India Germany, Brazil and Japan known as G4 countries, called for reforms of three of the principal organs of the United Nations.

“We commit to instill new life in the discussions on the reform of the Security Council” a Joint press statement of the group said.

  Ernesto Araújo, Foreign Minister of Brazil, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister for External Affairs of India, Motegi Toshimitsu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Niels Annen, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office on behalf of Heiko Maas, Foreign Minister of Germany, met virtually during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

 The joint statement said that the world of today is very different from what it was when the United Nations was created 75 years ago. There are more countries, more people, more challenges but also more solutions. Our working methods need to keep pace and adapt.
The Ministers highlighted the urgency of reforming the United Nations and updating its main decision-making bodies, in order to better reflect contemporary realities.

They expressed disappointment at attempts to derail this process and committed to addressing the issue in a meaningful way and with increased urgency.

The Joint statement said that as part of reforming the Security Council an expansion of the Security Council in both categories will be indispensable to make this body more representative, legitimate, and effective and it will enhance its capacity to deal with the complex challenges the world faces today on questions of international peace and security. 

“Only if we manage to reform the Security Council will we stop it from becoming obsolete. Broader membership of the Security Council, with increased and enhanced representation of countries with the capacity and willingness to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security, including from Africa, will allow it to preserve its credibility and create the political backing needed for the peaceful resolution of today’s international crises,”  said the statement.

The group of Ministers expressed their concern at the lack of any meaningful movement forward in the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on Security Council reform and expressed their concern that – after two sessions in February and March – the IGN was adjourned due to COVID-19 and no further meetings were held thereafter. They said that in the prevailing situation virtual meetings or a written process could have taken place to allow for progress to be made in the previous session.

The statement said, “The recent session demonstrated yet again that the IGN lacks the necessary openness and transparency and is constrained by flawed working methods. The IGN should be guided by the decision-making requirements and working methods laid out in the Charter of the United Nations and in the rules and procedures of the General Assembly.”

G4 Ministers stressed on leaving behind debates based solely on general statements, without substantive text based negotiations actually taking place in an intergovernmental setting.

 Underlining the overwhelming majority of UN Member States who firmly support a comprehensive reform of the Security Council it demanded that the IGN in the current session should start immediately as a direct continuation of the previous session.
 The ministers emphasized the need for an enhanced role of developing countries and of major contributors to the United Nations to make the Council more legitimate, effective, and representative. They underlined that Africa needs to be represented in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of mem…