President Dilma Rousseff said today (Sept. 26) in New York that the United Nations Security Council must become more effective to prevent war. She made the remarks following a meeting of the G4 group of countries that mutually support one another in their bids for a permanent seat in the Security Council, formed ten years ago by Germany, Brazil, India and Japan.

Reforming the council, according to the president, remains the main outstanding issue on the UN agenda. “We need a renewed Council that adequately reflects the new balance of power, a very distinct one from that of 1945. We need a Security Council that is representative, legitimate, and effective,” she said during the G-4 meeting.

The president explained that when the UN was created in 1945, it consisted of 51 states, and the UN Security Council had 11 members, 22% of the total number of states. “Now there are 193 states and the Security Council is composed of 15 members, which is a very significant drop in the representation percentage of the Council,” Rousseff said.

In the same interview, the president reiterated Brazil's willingness to accept refugees. “Brazil is a country of refugees, my father was a refugee himself. We're open to all of them who are looking to work and life with dignity. No xenophobic, restrictive policies,” she told reporters.

Brazil's Foreign Ministry published the G4's official statement, which says there has been no significant progress in the council reform since the 2005 World Summit, when heads of state unanimously supported urgent reform of the council.

According to the statement, the leaders praised the effort during the United Nations General Assembly last year to “move the process towards text-based negotiations.” They also made a commitment to support and cooperate with the negotiations on the 70th General Assembly on Monday (28).