Co-Chairs, Excellencies,

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the fourteen (14) Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

At the outset, please allow me to commend your Excellencies Tareq Albanai and Lise Gregoire-van Haaren, on your work as Co-Chairs of the intergovernmental negotiation process thus far during the 80th session. Let me assure you of CARICOM’s continued support and commitment to active engagement in this collective effort to make long-overdue progress on reforming the Security Council.

Colleagues,

We meet at a time when the concept of multilateralism faces many challenges.  But as we all know, challenges provide us with opportunities for change. Some may argue that the Security Council is not living up to the sacred duties with which it has been entrusted. As conflicts proliferate across our globe, the weaknesses of the Council are ever more on display. This growing deficit in the maintenance of international peace and security is increasingly being seen as a reflection of the Council’s failure to respond to blatant and egregious violations of international law.  

If the Security Council, and the United Nations as a whole, are to live up to the principles espoused in the Charter then we must take the necessary action to make the body more representative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable.  

We know that it is not a lack of understanding or willingness by the great majority of members that hinders the Council’s ability to effectively address breaches of peace. Rather, it is the configuration and decision making procedures that have impeded agreement on decisive responses to these pressing security challenges.

CARICOM has been an active participant in the IGN and has consistently highlighted the under-representation of regions such as Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa, and the lack of guaranteed representation of Small Island Developing States. We continue to stress that the absence of the Latin American and Caribbean region from the permanent category must be addressed.The work of Security Council would benefit greatly from the expertise and perspectives that our region would bring to the table. Similarly, the exclusion of the African region from permanent membership of the Council must be corrected. The time has come for us to test the commitment and collective political will of the General Assembly to treat Africa as a “special case” as adumbrated in the Pact for the Future. .

CARICOM also takes this opportunity to once more express our deep frustration about the continuing and increasing use of the veto. In the last two years 12 vetoes were cast. The 8 cast in 2024 represents the highest number in any year since 1986. Mindful of this worrying trend, CARICOM continues to support the veto initiative as an avenue for accountability around the use of the veto.  

Colleagues,

 Over the seventeen years since the commencement of IGN annual meetings, we have repeatedly discussed the same agenda items without making much progress.  This is notwithstanding the sterling efforts of the Co-Chairs. Yet, as we  enter this new year, we must not succumb to cynicism on the prospects for progress.  Reform of the Security Council is not just achievable, it is necessary, and it is urgent. Each Member State, has a duty to commit to this goal. CARICOM is confident that with good faith engagement and the capable leadership of our Co-Chairs, we can make tangible steps forward in the pursuit of shaping a Security Council that can effectively fulfill its mandate.

I thank you.