On Thursday, 26 September 2024, the Foreign Ministers of the L.69 Group of countries met in the margins of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The meeting was chaired by Dr. The Hon. Ralph E. Gonsalves, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, in his capacity as Spokesperson of the L.69.

Against the backdrop of the Summit of the Future, the leaders of the AU Committee of 10 (C-10) participated in this annual High-Level meeting to exchange views on the status of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on Security Council Reform.

The Ministers reiterated the urgent need to make the Security Council more representative, transparent, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable, and recognised that the Summit of the Future provided an opportunity for renewed commitment to Security Council reform.

The Ministers stressed the indispensable role to be played by developing countries in safeguarding the effectiveness, credibility and relevance of the Security Council’s decisions and outcomes. They underscored that, for reform to be transformative, there must be greater representation of the Global South, especially for underrepresented and unrepresented regions and groups, such as Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean, in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership. They further expressed their support for continuing discussions on the issue of representation of cross-regional groups, including Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

The Ministers reaffirmed their support for the Common African Position, as espoused in the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration. They expressed that the Common African Position is a manifestation of the principle of African Solutions for African Challenges and reiterated the proposed elements as the only way to sufficiently redress the historical injustices done to Africa.

The Ministers recognized that further delays in a comprehensive reform of the Security Council directly impacts the credibility and legitimacy of the United Nations. They further renewed their commitment to demonstrating the necessary political will to achieve the widest possible political acceptance on the five clusters set forth in GA Decision 62/557.

New York
September 26, 2024