General Assembly: 47th plenary meeting, 80th session

General Assembly: 47th plenary meeting, 80th session

• Use of the veto Item 64
• Debate on the item

While a recent initiative triggering a General Assembly meeting each time a Security Council veto is cast has yielded more scrutiny and given non-members a stronger voice, fresher and even more radical changes — including reform of the Council itself — are now critical, delegates stressed today, as the 193-member Assembly considered the application of that highly controversial tool.

Representatives said that, since the 2022 adoption of resolution 76/262 — widely known as the “veto initiative” — 17 vetoes have triggered 17 meetings of the General Assembly.  Many speakers welcomed the Assembly’s ability to take up the most crucial peace and security matters of our time, from the ongoing war in Ukraine to Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.  However, some voiced frustration that those meetings had little tangible impact, while others warned that ignoring widespread negative perceptions of the veto — and the Council’s resulting inaction — risks rendering the UN irrelevant in the public eye.