Since the UN was created in 1945, five nations have a veto within the body responsible for international peace and security: the Security Council. Those nations are China, France, Russia, the UK and USA.

Each of those countries have used their veto, but some more than others. France and China have the lowest history of voting and Russia has the highest.

Image from Wikipedia: Voting history until February 2022

There has been significant criticism of this system as undemocratic and in need of reform. Examples of self-interested abuse are how the the USA routinely vetoes any resolutions criticizing Israel and how Russia vetoes any condemnation of its own aggressive actions.

There has long been an argument that the UN General Assembly should be able to take action to restore international peace and security in cases where the Security Council has failed to exercise its responsibility for maintaining peace.

Now finally, on 26 April 2022, the General Assembly has adopted a resolution stating that, when the Security Council reaches a dead end on taking action in a crisis or other critical global problem through the use of the veto, those nations responsible for blocking progress are held to account in the Assembly.

The passage of this resolution was spurred on by Russian vetoes of Security Council action to address the appalling destruction that its troops have been wreaking since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.

The UK government supported the passage of this resolution. The UK Ambassador said “United Kingdom welcomes the call for Member States, who hold a permanent seat on the Security Council, to explain their use of veto to the General Assembly.”

In his article on this resolution, Head of Campaigns at UNA-UK Ben Donaldson writes that:

while the new resolution will not alleviate the need for wider UN reforms, it supports a more inclusive approach to maintaining peace and security and asserts the Assembly’s role as the central UN organ that the Council should answer to, especially when a member wields the veto. Yet countries that support measures for a more assertive Assembly should be careful to ensure that they are not used solely as tools taken by the West to isolate Russia.

Rather, the veto initiative’s backers should demonstrate that they are willing to address the broader questions of P5 privilege and inequality in the UN system. Preparations for the Summit of the Future, to be held in September 2023 at the UN, could provide a framework for such a conversation.