Statement by Archie Young, UK Ambassador to the General
Assembly, at the UN General Assembly.
Let me start by congratulating Ambassadors Albanai and Marschik,
on their well-deserved reappointment as co-chairs of the
inter-governmental negotiations this year; their leadership and
commitment on this important issue was invaluable in agreeing the
text on Security Council reform in the Pact for the Future. We
look forward to working closely with them over the coming months.
Last year, when we met to discuss UN Security Council reform in
this Assembly, many colleagues reflected on the perilous and
dangerous state of the world, and the challenge this posed to our
multilateral system.
A year later, the situation is even more acute, and the need to
strengthen our multilateral system through reform, ever more
pressing. During his address to the UN General Assembly in
September, my Prime Minister reflected on the increasingly
complex and interconnected challenges the world, and our
multilateral system, are facing.
Conflict touches more countries now than at any time in the
history of the United Nations, exacting a terrible human toll in
Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and elsewhere in the world.
The Security Council's role – and its responsibility for
international peace and security – is as important now as it has
ever been. The UK believes that a reformed Council, coupled with
a collective, renewed commitment to the UN Charter, would
strengthen the Council, so it can continue to rise to the
challenges the world is facing.
That is why we remain a strong supporter of UN Security Council
Reform. The Council must be expanded, to better reflect the world
today.
We continue to support an expansion in both the permanent and
non-permanent categories of membership to a total in the
mid-twenties. We want to see permanent African representation,
and permanent seats for Brazil, Germany, India and Japan.
President, we know that agreeing a model of reform for the
Security Council will be difficult. It is an important issue, on
which many states have different views as we continue to hear
today. But it is incumbent on all of us to work together, in the
spirit of compromise, to deliver the change we know is
needed.
The UK is committed to doing just that, and we look forward to
detailed and constructive discussions in the intergovernmental
negotiations, which we hope will move us forward towards
text-based negotiations.
