Security Council needs to include more members from developing world, says Brazil

The Security Council suffers from a “democracy deficit” and needs to include more permanent and non-permanent members from Africa, Latin America and Asia, Brazil’s External Relations Minister Celso Amorim told the General Assembly today.

In an address to the first day of the General Debate of the General Assembly’s 60th session, being held at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Amorim said the composition of the Council’s current membership is a “perpetuation of imbalances that run contrary to the very spirit of multilateralism.”

At this week’s World Summit, Member States failed to agree on how to reform the Council but committed to keep working on the issue and to review their progress at the end of this year.

Along with Germany, India and Japan, Brazil was a member of the so-called G-4 that expressed their desire during the lead-up to the Summit to become permanent members of the Council.

Mr. Amorim said no Council reform will be meaningful unless the numbers of permanent and non-permanent seats are expanded to include more developing countries.

“It is not reasonable to expect that the Council can continue to expand its agenda and responsibilities without addressing its democracy deficit,” he said.

Currently there are five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, each with the power to veto decisions – and 10 non-permanent members, which are elected on a geographical basis to three-year terms.