Statement by Archie Young, UK Ambassador to the General Assembly, at the UN General Assembly.
Let me start by congratulating Ambassadors Albanai and Marschik, on their well-deserved reappointment as co-chairs of the inter-governmental negotiations this year; their leadership and commitment on this important issue was invaluable in agreeing the text on Security Council reform in the Pact for the Future. We look forward to working closely with them over the coming months.
Last year, when we met to discuss UN Security Council reform in this Assembly, many colleagues reflected on the perilous and dangerous state of the world, and the challenge this posed to our multilateral system.
A year later, the situation is even more acute, and the need to strengthen our multilateral system through reform, ever more pressing. During his address to the UN General Assembly in September, my Prime Minister reflected on the increasingly complex and interconnected challenges the world, and our multilateral system, are facing.
Conflict touches more countries now than at any time in the history of the United Nations, exacting a terrible human toll in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and elsewhere in the world.
The Security Council's role - and its responsibility for international peace and security - is as important now as it has ever been. The UK believes that a reformed Council, coupled with a collective, renewed commitment to the UN Charter, would strengthen the Council, so it can continue to rise to the challenges the world is facing.
That is why we remain a strong supporter of UN Security Council Reform. The Council must be expanded, to better reflect the world today.
We continue to support an expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership to a total in the mid-twenties. We want to see permanent African representation, and permanent seats for Brazil, Germany, India and Japan.
President, we know that agreeing a model of reform for the Security Council will be difficult. It is an important issue, on which many states have different views as we continue to hear today. But it is incumbent on all of us to work together, in the spirit of compromise, to deliver the change we know is needed.
The UK is committed to doing just that, and we look forward to detailed and constructive discussions in the intergovernmental negotiations, which we hope will move us forward towards text-based negotiations.
