Oxfam calls for reform of UN Security Council ahead of global summit

The UN Security Council (UNSC) is failing people living in conflict, with the UK blocking progress towards peace and abstaining from crucial votes, particularly in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Israel and Yemen, a new Oxfam report has found.

The analysis found that an exclusive club – UNSC permanent members UK, Russia, China, US and France - are exploiting their exclusive voting, vetoing and negotiating powers to suit their own short-term geopolitical interests. In doing so, they are undermining the Council’s primary duty to maintain international peace and security.  Oxfam is calling for wholesale reform of the UNSC, including the abolition of the veto and expanding membership to more countries.

Vetoing Humanity studied 23 of the world’s most protracted conflicts over the past decade - including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen - and found that 27 of the 30 UNSC vetoes cast on these conflicts were on OPT, Syria and Ukraine. More than a million people have been killed in these 23 conflicts and 135 million conflict affected people have been pushed into severe hunger.

Halima Begum, Oxfam GB Chief Executive, said: “As recent votes have made painfully clear, too often the Permanent Five are prepared to put their strategic interests and military alliances above the Security Council’s most basic duty to keep the peace and protect life. This is a repudiation of both the word and spirit of the UN Charter. As such, there is an increasingly widespread belief across the international community that the Security Council is simply unfit for purpose.

“More often than not, the abuse of exclusive powers by the permanent members contradicts the broader will of the UN General Assembly, where all states are represented.

“Root and branch reform of the Security Council is long overdue if the international community is ever to resurrect the Council’s mandate, to maintain international peace and security.”

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) has passed at least 77 resolutions over the last decade supporting Palestinian self-determination and ending Israel’s illegal occupation. But this year during the Gaza-Israel war, the UK in its privileged permanent position chose to abstain on ceasefire votes rather than veto, refused to push for ceasefire talks on the UNSC’s agenda and has continued to sell parts for F-35 fighter jets that drop bombs on civilians in Gaza.

Although the UK has not used its veto in the last decade, alongside France and the US, it has held the pen on two-thirds of resolutions relating to the 23 protracted crises studied by Oxfam.  ‘Pen-holding’ allows the UK and the permanent members to lead on negotiations and direct how resolutions are drafted, tabled, or ignored - too often according to their own interests.

The UK holds the pen on Yemen, a position that carries significant responsibility given its historical role in the region. Yemen’s protracted conflict, now in its ninth year, is rooted in complex internal and external dynamics, including legacies of colonialism. The UK has not fully leveraged its position to push for peace and accountability, particularly by failing to condemn Saudi Arabia’s role in bombing civilians. Instead, the UK’s actions and inaction at the UN Security Council have blocked peace in Yemen, raising questions about whether the UK is prioritising its defence and economic ties over its responsibility to address the conflict.

Many initiatives are not even written up or tabled because they would inevitability be vetoed, the report finds. As a result, the 23 crises studied by Oxfam are being treated in significantly different ways.

The report is also critical of the fact that humanitarian funding remains entirely dependent upon voluntary contributions. In contrast, UN member state funding for peacekeeping operations is mandatory. Globally, the number of people needing humanitarian assistance has risen nearly four times in the last decade, triggering massive funding needs. Between 2014 and 2023, the UN appeal for funds has nearly tripled from $20 billion to over $56 billion – but less than half of this amount was met last year.

As the Summit of the Future kicks off this week to envision a revitalized UN, Oxfam is calling for a wholesale reform of the UN Security Council; including the abolition of the veto power and expanding membership to more countries.

Ends

For more information and interviews, please contact Amber Ahmad: aahmad1@oxfam.org.uk

Notes to the Editor

• Read Oxfam’s “Vetoing Humanity” report (Link will go live once embargo is lifted)
• Oxfam looked at 23 crises that were listed in the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)’s “Global Humanitarian Needs Overviews” for at least five consecutive years over the last decade. Source: UNOCHA Global Humanitarian Overview 2024 and UNOCHA 2014-2018.
• Over the past decade, the UNSC has passed 482 resolutions and vetoed 30 resolutions on these 23 protracted crises. 8 out of 12 resolutions on Palestine and Israel; 15 out of 58 on Syria; 4 out of 7 in Ukraine; one on Venezuela; one on Malia; and one on Yemen, have been vetoed respectively. Oxfam analysis of UNGA Resolutions and UNSC vetoes is based on UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library. (n.d.). UN General Assembly Resolutions Tables.
• Russia and the United States have together cast 75% of the 88 UNSC vetoes since 1989, with the rest by China – neither France nor the UK have used their veto power over that period. Source: For details on UNSC vetoes, see UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library. (n.d.). UN Security Council Meetings & Outcomes Tables: Veto List. Accessed 20 July 2024. For details on approved resolutions see UNSC Resolutions.
• 11 of the total 23 protracted crises (48%) had each fewer than five resolutions over the last decade. Source: see above.
• Oxfam calculated 1.1 million people died during 2014–23 in the 23 protracted crises using the conflict-level version of the dataset and the best estimates of battle-related deaths (as opposed to the high or the low estimates). Source: The Uppsala University Conflict Data Program Battle Related Deaths dataset version 24.1
• Oxfam calculated global funding needs based on the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Financial Tracking Service database coordinated appeals data from 2014 to 2023. Only 43% of the total $54.1bn appeal was met in 2023.
• The number of people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance living in these 23 protracted crises has grown by more than 250% to 233.5 million in 2024, up from 90.84 in 2015. Source: UNOCHA’s Global Humanitarian Overview (2015) and (2024).