UN Security Council Reform History: Every Major Proposal That Stalled

Politics The UN Security Council has 15 seats for 193 member states, five of them permanent with veto power. Reform has been formally negotiated since 1993, but the Cou… Swipe to explore › AiTimeline Home

The UN and its 11-seat Security Council are founded

SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE The UN Charter created an 11-member Security Council inside a UN of 51 founding states: 5 permanent members with veto power (US, USSR, UK, France, Republic of China) and… AiTimeline Home

Charter amendment enters into force — Council grows to 15

THE ONLY SUCCESSFUL EXPANSI… A Charter amendment to Articles 23 and 27, adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 1963, entered into force on 31 August 1965. The Council grew from 11 to 15 seat… AiTimeline Home

Open-Ended Working Group established

MODERN REFORM DEBATE OPENS With the Cold War over and UN membership past 175 states, the General Assembly created an Open-Ended Working Group in 1993 to examine Council membership and representati… AiTimeline Home

First comprehensive reform blueprint fails to reach a vote

THE RAZALI PLAN General Assembly President Razali Ismail proposed a 24-member Council: 5 new permanent seats (no veto) for Africa, Asia, Latin America and two industrialised states, plu… AiTimeline Home

G4, African Union and Uniting for Consensus all fail

THREE RIVAL MODELS COLLIDE The G4 (Brazil, Germany, India, Japan) proposed a 25-seat Council with 6 new permanent seats. The African Union's Ezulwini Consensus demanded at least 26 seats with 2 ne… AiTimeline Home

Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) launched

FORMAL NEGOTIATIONS BEGIN Following a 2008 General Assembly decision to commence talks, formal Intergovernmental Negotiations opened in 2009 — the same forum, covering the same five reform issues… AiTimeline Home

General Assembly forces a debate after every veto

THE VETO INITIATIVE Resolution 76/262, adopted by consensus on 26 April 2022 with 83 co-sponsors including three P5 members, requires the General Assembly to hold a formal debate within 10… AiTimeline Home

Member states name Africa's exclusion a priority to fix

PACT FOR THE FUTURE Adopted at the September 2024 Summit of the Future, the Pact commits states to 'redress the historical injustice against Africa as a priority' and to intensify efforts o… AiTimeline Home

Negotiations extended into the 81st session

AFRICAN MODEL REACHES THE T… The African Union formally submitted its own reform model in 2026, and the IGN Co-Chairs held a dedicated session on it in April. At the close of the 80th session, the G… AiTimeline Home

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