Foreign Ministers of the G4 countries, Brazil, Germany, India and Japan, have backed Africa’s demand for enhanced representation in the United Nations Security Council, including permanent membership.
The ministers stated their position in a joint statement issued after meeting in New York on Tuesday, on the margins of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.
The G4 ministers are Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, German Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu.
According to a statement issued by the German Embassy in Abuja on Wednesday, the ministers welcomed the African Group’s reform model presented during the 80th session of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on Security Council reform.
They reiterated their support for Africa’s case for enhanced representation, “including in the permanent category of membership.”
The G4 said the current structure of the 15-member Security Council, established eight decades ago, no longer reflects contemporary geopolitical realities.
They said the Council’s “representativeness, legitimacy, credibility and efficacy are in question”, arguing that its existing structure has become an impediment to addressing present and future challenges to international peace and security.
The ministers said “given the increasingly challenging geopolitical environment, UNSC reform is more necessary than ever before.”
They called for expansion of the Council in both permanent and non permanent categories, stressing the need to improve representation of under represented and unrepresented regions, particularly Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The ministers also expressed concern over the limited progress in the IGN process, which has run for 18 years without concrete outcomes.
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