UNSC does not reflect today’s realities, is paralysed, says UNGA President.

January 31, 2023

UNGA President, during his visit to India, underscored the shortcomings of UNSC and asserted for need of reforms in it. His remarks came in the backdrop of Russia, a permanent member of UNSC, attacking Ukraine.
UNSC, established by UN Charter in 1945, is one of the six principal organs of UN with a primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security.
- The United Nations (UN) has six main organs. Five of them — the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council and the Secretariat— are based at UN Headquarters in New York. The sixth, the International Court of Justice, is located at The Hague in the Netherlands.
UNSC is composed of 15 members.
- Five permanent members: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.
- Under UN Charter, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions.
- Security Council has power to make binding decisions on member states.
Issues with UNSC
- UNSC does not represent contemporary world.
- Inadequate regional representation. Developing countries are underrepresented, and there are no permanent members from either Africa or Latin America.
- Lack of transparency and efficiency in decision-making process.
- Misuse of veto power by permanent members. Russia has vetoed UNSC resolutions on Ukraine.
India’s key demand on reforms include
- Permanent membership to G4 members (India, Germany, Brazil, Japan and India).
- Abolition of veto.
- Equitable geographical representation.
The Intergovernmental Negotiations framework or IGN is a group of nation-states working within the United Nations to further reform of the UNSC. The IGN is composed of several different international organizations, namely:
African Union(55 member states)
G4 nations(Brazil, Germany, India and Japan)
Uniting for Consensus Group (UfC), also known as the “Coffee Club”(it aims to counter the bids for permanent seats proposed by G4 nations, includes Pakistan, Turkey, Canada, Spain and Italy)
L69 Groupof Developing Countries ( it includes developing countries from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific)
Arab League(six members: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria) and
Caribbean Community( a group of 15 member countries called CARICOM)