Joint G4 Statement by Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan, delivered by H.E. Ambassador ISHIKANE Kimihiro, Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, at the Informal Meeting of the General Assembly on the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council Reform
2023/4/3
(As delivered)
Co-Chairs,
Thank you for convening this fourth round of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council reform. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the G4 – Brazil, Germany, India, and my own country, Japan.
Today’s topics are closely intertwined. As we have stressed many times, adequate regional representation can be achieved only by expanding both permanent and non-permanent categories. Simply expanding non-permanent seats will not change but rather reconfirm the existing imbalance in the Council, and therefore not live up to the aspirations of many countries, including from Africa. This cannot be the way forward.
As shown in the Co-Chairs’ Elements Paper of 2022, a significant number of delegations and groups, including the African Group, the Arab Group, CARICOM, L69, the G4, and four of the five permanent members, support an expansion of both categories. The Framework Document of 2015 also shows that more than 120 Member States are in favour of this. The others say that the historical injustice to Africa should be addressed, or that equitable regional representation is important in general, but never articulate the obvious, namely that Africa should have permanent seats. We all know who they are. The G4 reaffirms its full support for the Common African Position. Appropriate numbers for an increase in both categories can be further discussed during text-based negotiations.
Co-Chairs,
Another important topic today is the Status of the IGN documents. Once again, we applaud your decisive leadership in introducing webcast and record-keeping, which definitely increases transparency and inclusivity. This is a Member States-driven achievement – Member States requested, the Co-Chairs made a concrete proposal, and was accepted by Member States.
Nonetheless, we need to go further. We must start text-based negotiations with attribution of the position of each Member and Group without delay. For that purpose, this year’s Co-Chairs Revised Elements Paper is critically important. We strongly hope that a revised paper this time will include the important progress made in our working methods, and the concrete, constructive proposals which have been presented so far, as well as those you will see by the end of the 77th session.
We have been conducting the IGN building on informal meetings, revised versions of the Co-Chairs Elements Paper, and the Framework Document for many years. It is high time that we moved to the next step based on the convergences we have identified so far. For example, we might want to extract the convergences into a separate paper to make a record of our positions and create a starting point for the next step. Such an initiative would not harm or detract from the Co-Chairs’ important work of revising the Elements Paper, but rather complement that effort in a Member States-driven way.
Co-Chairs,
Our full support for your efforts is unwavering, and we will continue our constructive contribution to a real and tangible reform of the Council.
I thank you.
Thank you for convening this fourth round of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council reform. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the G4 – Brazil, Germany, India, and my own country, Japan.
Today’s topics are closely intertwined. As we have stressed many times, adequate regional representation can be achieved only by expanding both permanent and non-permanent categories. Simply expanding non-permanent seats will not change but rather reconfirm the existing imbalance in the Council, and therefore not live up to the aspirations of many countries, including from Africa. This cannot be the way forward.
As shown in the Co-Chairs’ Elements Paper of 2022, a significant number of delegations and groups, including the African Group, the Arab Group, CARICOM, L69, the G4, and four of the five permanent members, support an expansion of both categories. The Framework Document of 2015 also shows that more than 120 Member States are in favour of this. The others say that the historical injustice to Africa should be addressed, or that equitable regional representation is important in general, but never articulate the obvious, namely that Africa should have permanent seats. We all know who they are. The G4 reaffirms its full support for the Common African Position. Appropriate numbers for an increase in both categories can be further discussed during text-based negotiations.
Co-Chairs,
Another important topic today is the Status of the IGN documents. Once again, we applaud your decisive leadership in introducing webcast and record-keeping, which definitely increases transparency and inclusivity. This is a Member States-driven achievement – Member States requested, the Co-Chairs made a concrete proposal, and was accepted by Member States.
Nonetheless, we need to go further. We must start text-based negotiations with attribution of the position of each Member and Group without delay. For that purpose, this year’s Co-Chairs Revised Elements Paper is critically important. We strongly hope that a revised paper this time will include the important progress made in our working methods, and the concrete, constructive proposals which have been presented so far, as well as those you will see by the end of the 77th session.
We have been conducting the IGN building on informal meetings, revised versions of the Co-Chairs Elements Paper, and the Framework Document for many years. It is high time that we moved to the next step based on the convergences we have identified so far. For example, we might want to extract the convergences into a separate paper to make a record of our positions and create a starting point for the next step. Such an initiative would not harm or detract from the Co-Chairs’ important work of revising the Elements Paper, but rather complement that effort in a Member States-driven way.
Co-Chairs,
Our full support for your efforts is unwavering, and we will continue our constructive contribution to a real and tangible reform of the Council.
I thank you.