Japan and the United Nations
Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the G4 Countries on UN Security Council Reform
September 23, 2024
Ms. KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, who is visiting New York, U.S., attended the Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the G4 countries (Japan, Brazil, Germany and India) on United Nations Security Council Reform on September 23. from 17:15 to 17:50 (local time) for 35 approximately. The overview of the meeting is as follows.
- Minister Kamikawa shared views on the latest situation on Security Council reform and discussed future direction of work with her counterparts from Brazil, Germany and India.
- Minister Kamikawa stated that “Pact for the future,” the outcome document of the Summit of the Future, is the first ever concrete text on Security Council reform at leaders’ level and thereby an important step towards future actions. She also outlined achievements of the Pact such as 1) calling for finding an agreement on categories of membership to expand, taking into account the discussions in the IGN, 2) referring indirectly to a reform timeline, 3) proposing to develop a consolidated model in the IGN, which may lead to text-based negotiations, 4) encouraging restraining of the use of the veto. Furthermore, she welcomed the US’s new commitment to Security Council reform including supporting engaging in text-based negotiations, which was recently announced.
- The G4 Foreign Ministers welcomed the Summit of the Future, where world leaders called for an urgent reform of the Security Council. Looking ahead to the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the UN next year, they concurred on working with Africa and other relevant countries including the United States to achieve concrete progress as soon as possible towards the realization of Security Council reform. Moreover, the G4 Ministers reiterated their support for each other’s candidatures as aspiring new permanent members in a reformed Security Council.
(Reference1) Participants
Japan : Ms. KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister for Foreign Affairs
Germany : Ms. Annalena BAERBOCK, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs (Chair)
Brazil : Mr. Mauro VIEIRA, Minister of Foreign Affairs
India : Dr. Subrahmanyam JAISHANKAR
(Reference2)
