Reform of the Security Council
Intergovernmental negotiations
At its sixty-second session, the General Assembly decided to commence intergovernmental negotiations in informal plenary of the Assembly during its sixty-third session, based on proposals by Member States, in good faith, with mutual respect and in an open, inclusive and transparent manner, on the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Council, seeking a solution that could garner the widest possible political acceptance by Member States (decision 62/557).
After intergovernmental negotiations, the General Assembly has taken a decision at each session (decisions 63/565 B, 64/568, 65/554, 66/566, 67/561, 68/557, 69/560, 70/559, 71/553, 72/557, 73/554, 74/569, 75/569, 76/572, 77/559 and 78/561).
Most recently, the Assembly:
- Decided to reaffirm the central role of the General Assembly concerning the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council and the commitment of Heads of State and Government representing the peoples of the world to instil new life in the discussions on the reform of the Security Council;
- Decided to immediately continue intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform in informal plenary of the General Assembly at its seventy-ninth session, as mandated by Assembly decisions 62/557 of 15 September 2008, 63/565 B of 14 September 2009, 64/568 of 13 September 2010, 65/554 of 12 September 2011, 66/566 of 13 September 2012, 67/561 of 29 August 2013, 68/557 of 8 September 2014, 69/560 of 14 September 2015, 70/559 of 27 July 2016, 71/553 of 19 July 2017, 72/557 of 29 June 2018, 73/554 of 25 June 2019, 74/569 of 31 August 2020, 75/569 of 22 June 2021, 76/572 of 12 July 2022 and 77/559 of 29 June 2023, building on the informal meetings held during its seventy-eighth session, as reflected in the letter dated 29 April 2024 from the Co-Chairs, and on the document entitled “Co-Chairs’ Revised Elements Paper on Convergences and Divergences on the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters”, circulated on 2 August 2024, as well as the positions of and proposals made by Member States, reflected in the text and its annex circulated on 31 July 2015, to help to inform its future work;
- Welcomed the active engagement, initiatives and intensive efforts of the President of the General Assembly, and noted with appreciation the active role and concrete efforts of the Co-Chairs undertaken in a consultative manner with a view to an early comprehensive reform of the Security Council;
- Welcomed the holding of structured dialogues on models presented by Member States and Groups of States, appreciated the active participation of the Member States, and noted their usefulness to increasing the overall convergences and better understanding of individual proposals;
- Noted the contribution on Security Council reform from the intergovernmental negotiations to the Pact for the Future;
- Decided to convene the Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security Council during the seventy-ninth session of the General Assembly, if Member States so decide;
- Also decided to include in the agenda of the seventy-ninth session of the General Assembly the item entitled “Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council”.
79th Session of the General Assembly
You will find below information about the informal meetings of the plenary on the intergovernmental negotiations on the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Council.
Letters
- Letter from the President of the 78th session of the General Assembly:
- Letter from the Co-Chairs:
