Accra, Ghana – (African Boulevard News) – Japan and Ghana have joined forces to pursue reforms at the United Nations Security Council. The two countries share a common goal of making the Security Council more inclusive and representative. The Japanese Prime Minister, Kishida Fumio, met with Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo on Monday to discuss the issue and emphasized the importance of working together towards achieving the necessary reforms.
Akufo-Addo welcomed the commitment of Japan towards reforming the Security Council. He highlighted the need for the African continent to be represented in the permanent membership of the Security Council. The President said, “We are delighted to have Japan as an ally in our quest for reforms at the UN Security Council. We believe that the Council should reflect the realities of the world today and that permanent membership of the Council should be more inclusive, reflecting the diversity of the world’s regions.”
Japan, a member of the G4 group, has long been advocating for the reform of the UN Security Council. The group, which includes Germany, Brazil, and India, seeks to increase the number of permanent seats on the Council and to expand the number of non-permanent seats.
Fumio acknowledged the importance of Africa’s representation on the Council and reiterated Japan’s commitment to working with Ghana and other African countries to achieve the necessary reforms. He said, “We share the same belief that the Security Council has to be reformed to be more representative of the world today, and that includes Africa.”
The current Security Council has 15 members, including five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The remaining 10 seats are elected by the General Assembly every two years.
The issue of Security Council reform has been on the agenda for several years. The call for reform has mainly come from developing countries, who argue that the current composition of the Council is outdated and does not reflect the current geopolitical landscape.
In recent years, there has been progress towards reforming the Security Council. In 2020, the African Union (AU) adopted the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, calling for two permanent seats and five non-permanent seats for the African continent in the Security Council.
The meeting between the Japanese Prime Minister and the Ghanaian President is a significant step towards achieving the necessary reforms at the UN Security Council. It is expected that other countries will join the call for reform, and hopefully, the reforms will become a reality in the near future.
As Akufo-Addo stated, “We can only achieve these necessary reforms with the support and cooperation of like-minded countries, and we are hopeful that Japan will lead the way.”
