Revision of UN Charter discussed in New York, draft proposal ...

On the occasion of the Summit of the Future in New York, voices were raised in favor of a revision of the United Nations Charter. The organization’s founding document has not seen any significant change since its adoption in 1945. While the so-called Pact for the Future adopted by the Summit acknowledges the need for a “transformation of global governance”, it does not elaborate on this possibility. 

According to an opinion piece published by a number of co-authors involved in a new civil society coalition for UN Charter Reform, the Summit “failed to deliver the radical change the world needs to truly live up to the UN objectives to maintain peace and security and achieve international cooperation in solving collective problems.” The article highlights the need for “UN members to start laying the groundwork” for a revision of the UN Charter, a process that “will take years.”

Annual general debate

Speaking on the first day of the UN’s annual general debate this Tuesday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for “reviewing and revising” the UN Charter “comprehensively” to reform institutions and address “humanity’s most pressing challenges” such as climate change. He said, however, that he was “under no illusions about the complexity of such reform, which would go against ingrained interests that maintain the status quo.”

We cannot wait for another world tragedy

“We cannot wait for another world tragedy like World War II to only then build a new governance on the rubbles”, Lula added.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on 24 September 2024 called for a “comprehensive review” of the UN Charter. Photo: UN.

The general debate will continue until 30 September. Another world leader present in New York to speak during the high-level week is Bangladesh’s new “chief adviser” of the government, Muhammad Yunus. In the previous year, he was among the signatories of a call for UN Charter reform. He is scheduled to speak on 27 September.

Draft of a “Second United Nations Charter”

Ahead of the Summit, a full draft of a revised UN Charter was presented by an international study group convened by the Global Governance Forum over the past two years. The group consists of “scholars, experts, lawyers, practitioners, and former government officials, ambassadors, and staff members” knowledgeable of the UN, as the document’s introduction points out. 

After “almost eighty years, the original Charter is no longer fit for purpose”, the paper notes. “The world faces multiple crises and existential threats beyond those for which the organization was conceived”, it explains.

Major structural changes included in the draft “Second Charter” worked out by the study group include a “coherent institutional design” with four main pillars and Councils covering Security, Economic and Social affairs as well as Human Rights, and as a new field the Environment with a new Earth System Council.

The draft proposes a new Earth System Council and a Parliamentary Assembly

While the General Assembly continues to be the chief deliberative and policy-making organ of the UN, the draft proposes a new Parliamentary Assembly as a second chamber that enhances representation of the world’s people. 

Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former President of the UN General Assembly, Andreas Bummel, Executive Director of Democracy Without Borders, and Ann Linde, former Swedish Foreign minister, during the presentation of the “Second Charter” on 19 September 2024 (left to right). Photo: GGF

The Security Council in this draft is expanded to include “a new category of five additional renewable longterm regionally selected seats as well as fifteen more non-renewable seats that redress various current representational imbalances (for a total of 25 seats)”, as the introduction summarizes.

The General Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly are given the power to enact Security Council resolutions that otherwise did not pass due to a veto of one of the permanent members.

Implementing gender equity is mainstreamed throughout the “Second Charter” draft. Other key items include the provision of a standing UN peace force as well as a commitment to general and complete disarmament.

During the presentation it was anticipated that the new Charter would be subject to more frequent change and become a “living document”. The threshold for amendments was eased in the draft as they would no longer require the approval of the permanent members of the Security Council.

Concluding the all-day event hosted by the Baha’i International Community, the Executive Director of the Global Governance Forum, Augusto Lopez-Claros, noted that the initiative was an example for “new diplomacy”. He expressed hope that the proposals included in the draft would be widely discussed and help build momentum for Charter reform. 

What’s next in global governance?

The call for a Charter review conference was also one of the subjects put forward at a Summit of the Future Action Day side event organized by a group of coalitions that were formed at the UN Civil Society Conference in May 2024 in Nairobi, including the Coalition for UN Charter Reform, as well as other partners.

Panel at the event “What’s next in global governance?“: Maja Groff, Climate Governance Commission; Aishwarya Machani, Iswe Foundation; Rebecca Shoot, Citizens for Global Solutions; Natalia Nahra, UN Charter Reform Coalition; moderated by Heba Aly, UN Charter Reform Coalition (from left to right). Photo: DWB

The event, which can be watched on UN Web TV, additionally included presentations of the proposed Global Citizens’ Assembly and a UN Parliamentary Assembly; strengthening international courts and tribunals for accountability under international law; a UN declaration of planetary emergency, a Planetary Emergency Platform as well as the creation of a Global Environment Agency.

Mary Robinson, Chair of The Elders, lead Co-Chair of the Climate Governance Commission, and Former President of Ireland, noted that she would “love to see all these recommendations to be implemented.”

At another Action Day side event organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the organization’s Secretary-General Martin Chungong remarked that ultimately a reform of the UN Charter was needed to make parliamentary involvement at the UN effective.

However, as pointed out at the event on “What’s next in global governance?”, a step promoted below this threshold is the creation of a UN Parliamentary Assembly according to the UN Charter’s Article 22. This would merely require a decision of the UN General Assembly.

Democracy Without Borders was a co-organizer of the side event and its Executive Director, Andreas Bummel, as well as a few associates and advisors of the organization, were members or otherwise involved in the study group on a “Second Charter”.

The opinion piece was published by Al Jazeera and co-authored by Heba Aly, UN Charter Reform Coalition; Brenda Mofya, Oxfam International; Andreas Bummel; Augusto Lopez-Claros; Tim Murithi, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation and Fergus Watt, Coalition for the UN We Need.