Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi participated in the Ministerial meeting of the Uniting for Consensus (UfC) group on UN Security Council reform on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly’s 76th Session in New York. The meeting was also attended by the Foreign Ministers of other UfC members. Speaking on the occasion, Foreign Minister Qureshi called for making the UN Security Council more representative, democratic, transparent, effective and accountable to address the multiple challenges facing the world. He emphasized that the reform of the Security Council must be decided by consensus and should enhance the representation of all UN Member States. He added that only an acceptable formula with an increase in the non-permanent members, and rotation through democratic elections, can provide more equitable representation for all States on the Security Council. Foreign Minister said that attempts by some states to create new centres of privilege could derail the reform process and exacerbate divisions. He urged that the Member States must be allowed the necessary time and space to evolve a solution acceptable to the entire UN membership. He said that UfC’s principled position offered the only practical solution to the reform of the Security Council. The Ministerial meeting issued a joint press statement on behalf of the UfC group which inter alia, reiterated opposition to the creation of new permanent seats in the Security Council, and underlined that an effective and democratic Security Council cannot be achieved with the addition of new members with exclusive national rights and unequal privileges. The statement noted that in order to help redress historical injustices, efforts towards a reformed Security Council should aim at achieving equitable representation for African countries as well as to ensure an enhanced representation and a greater voice for other developing regions, Small States and SIDS. UfC Ministers called upon all Member States to continue to work constructively to reach a fair and equitable compromise solution that meets the collective interest of all 193 Members of the United Nations.
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