Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the G4 countries – Brazil, Germany, India and Japan – on United Nations Security Council Reform – Joint Press Statement – New York, September 21, 2016

On 21 September 2016, H.E. Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal Foreign Minister of Germany, invited H.E. Mr. José Serra, Foreign Minister of Brazil, H.E. Mr. Fumio Kishida, Foreign Minister of Japan and H.E. Mr. M. J. Akbar, Minister of State for External Affairs of India to a G4 meeting in New York.

The G4 Ministers underscored their unwavering commitment to a comprehensive reform of the Security Council which needs to take into account the geopolitical realities of the 21st century. More than 70 years after the founding of the United Nations, the Security Council also has to adapt in order to cope with the ever growing global challenges. With a view to the manifold conflicts and humanitarian crises, a more representative, legitimate and effective Council is needed more than ever to guarantee peace and security worldwide.

Ministers welcomed meetings of a Group of Friends on Security Council Reform, which brought together high-level representatives of Member States from diverse regions aiming at pushing forward Security Council reform. In this regard, they called upon all reform-oriented Member States to join efforts and finally bring about meaningful reform.

The Ministers expressed their support for equitable regional representation, underscoring the imperative for Africa’s representation in both the permanent and non-permanent membership as well as adequate and continuing representation of small and medium sized Member States, including the Small Island Developing States, in a reformed Security Council.

The Ministers re-iterated their resolve to continue contributing to the fulfillment of the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and emphazised that the G4 countries are legitimate candidates for permanent membership and supported each other’s aspirations.

The Ministers thanked to the President of the 70th General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft, for his efforts on Security Council Reform (IGN). They welcomed the consensual adoption of Decision 70/559 by the UN General Assembly to continue to use the text presented by the President of the 69th General Assembly in his letter dated 31 July 2015 as the basis for negotiations within the IGN process in the General Assembly. They also welcomed the expressions of flexibility made by numerous delegations during the past IGN session which resulted in the identification of areas of convergence in Member States’ positions on all issues related to the five clusters as identified by GA resolution 62/557 Security Council reform.

Ministers also concluded, however, that substantial progress was still limited and that efforts need to be intensified to build further momentum and to arrive at real text-based negotiations.

They pledged to continue to work towards a comprehensive Security Council reform in the framework of the IGN. They expressed their full support to the President of the 71st United Nations General Assembly, trusting that he will support swift and substantive progress towards a meaningful reform of the Security Council.

The Ministers also briefly exchanged views on UN reforms to render the UN fit for the 21st century and discussed their expectations for the next Secretary General of the United Nations in this regard.

New York
21 September 2016