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Joint Statement - A Call to Action for Reform of the UN Security Council

September 23, 2022

We the heads of delegations (** as listed below) to the 77th UN General Assembly gather at a time when the world faces increasingly complex and interconnected global challenges.

We are brought together by the guiding principles of the United Nations Charter and our shared values of sovereignty, freedom, rule of law, respect for human rights and democracy.

​Convinced of the need to restore faith in effective multilateralism, we stand united, as a group of pro-reform like-minded States, determined to work towards a more inclusive, responsive and participatory international governance architecture.

We recognize that a resilient world urgently needs reformed and effective multilateralism to deliver solutions for the pressing and evolving challenges of our time, developmental challenges, poverty, climate change, pandemics, global food security, international conflicts and crises, and international terrorism.

​We reaffirm that adapting the United Nations to the contemporary world realities necessarily requires urgent and comprehensive reform of the Security Council, the principal organ for international peace and security.

We further recognize that lack of progress in Security Council reform has serious implications, not only for the continued relevance of global governance institutions, but also for global peace and security and delivering on the purposes, principles and promises of the United Nations Charter.

We emphasize that a legitimate Security Council must be reflective of the aspirations and perspectives of the developing world, which form the majority of the UN’s global membership.

​We recognise that a reformed Security Council must better reflect the contemporary United Nations membership, including through enhanced representation of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which comprise approximately 20% of the United Nations’ membership.

We reiterate that an expansion of the Security Council in both permanent and non-permanent categories, as well as reform in its working methods, is indispensable to making this body more representative, legitimate and effective.

We reaffirm our support for the representation of Africa in line with the Common African Position, as contained in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration.

​We affirm the need for a formal negotiation process, guided by the decision-making modalities and working methods laid out in the Charter of the United Nations and in line with the rules and procedures of the General Assembly.

​We affirm our commitment to making concrete progress on Security Council, including through a reenergized IGN process.

​We commit to "instil new life” in our efforts during the 77th session of the General Assembly, and urgently call on all Members States of the United Nations to join hands to achieve comprehensive reform of the Security Council.

**Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Brazil, Bolivia, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Liberia, Maldives, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Seychelles, South Africa, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu

New York
September 23, 2022

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