NEW YORK, MARCH 4 – The Uniting for Consensus Group believes that candidates that are elected to seat in the Security Council must never lose sight of the interests of those they are representing, as legitimate spokespersons of regional perspectives. “That is the reason why UFC group supports the expansion ONLY of the category of non-permanent seats. In fact, permanent members represent themselves ALONE. Expansion in the number of such members would thus do nothing to increase regional representation”, the Italian permanent Representative to the UN Mariangela Zappia said today in her address on behalf of the Group during an informal meeting of the General Assembly on the reform of the Security Council.
Zappia recalled some key elements of the UfC model, specifically on regional representation: “Our reformed Council would consist of twenty-six members, twenty-one of which non-permanent, including those with a longer term and the possibility of an immediate re-election.
In terms of regional representation, which – it’s worth repeating – in the UfC’s perspective can only be assured by elected members, Africa would become the first group in the reformed Council; Asia-Pacific would have the highest percent increase; while Latin America and Eastern Europe would double their representation. This distribution would also allow an increased and more stable representation for cross-regional groupings, such as the Arab group, and would take into duly consideration developing States, especially SIDS, Zappia explained adding that “the UfC proposal has been adjusted over the years to what we have heard in the different rounds of negotiations. It takes into consideration the positions of all negotiating groups. True to the spirit of flexibility that inspires our group, we are ready to engage in constructive discussion with any single Member State or any groupings. That is why in the last weeks UfC has continued reaching out to several Countries and groups from different areas. We believe this is the right approach, and we will continue to work on it”. (@OnuItalia) .
