UNGA 78: Italy chairs UfC meeting, “26 members in a reformed UNSC, no new privileges”

The Ministers confirmed the Group’s objective of working on an urgent and global reform of the United Nations Security Council, so as to create a more democratic, representative, effective and accountable organisation for all members, in line with the objectives now announced and embraced by all UN Member States.

The UfC proposal seeks to expand the Security Council to 26 members in order to increase its representativeness without compromising its effectiveness. The Group proposes to add only non-permanent seats, some of them long term, to allow those states wishing to serve longer to do so. On the other hand, the Group is against increasing the number of permanent members and even wants to limit their right of veto.

“Italy will continue to lead the UfC Group for a reform that has the widest possible consensus, in the interests of the UN institutions and each Member State”, Cirielli noted, adding that “the war in Ukraine, which comes on top of other serious crises, has confirmed that the Security Council – the most important UN body, entrusted by the Charter with the primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security – must be reformed to meet the needs of today’s world”. “It is unacceptable”, he continued, “that decisions crucial to peace are made or blocked by a handful of countries: we need a reformed Security Council that will enable us to achieve our common goal of effective multilateralism”. (@OnuItalia)