Global IssuesInternational OrganisationsAPECCommonwealthOECDUnited NationsNZ contribution to the UNNZ engagement with the UNNZ representationUN High Commissioner RefugeesUN JobsUN ReformUN StructureWorld Trade OrganisationAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastNorth AmericaPacific
Find MFAT's information paper on a country or territory. (We don't have information papers on all countries.)
Although we have tried to use plain English content on the site, you may come across specialist terms and acronyms. Find out what they mean in our glossary of terms.
If you come across a term that isn't included in the Glossary please send us an email.
New Zealand recognises reform of the Security Council as a critically overdue element of the UN reform agenda. We remain committed to reform of the Council which makes it more effective and representative of the 21st century, but which does not freeze it in time to reflect the situation in 2006. We also consider that any expanded Council should include a place for Japan.
New Zealand has consistently opposed the veto since its introduction in 1945, and does not support its extension to any new members of the Security Council. At the launch of the United Nations, New Zealand and other opponents of the veto were left with a stark choice between political reality and moral principle. In the end, to ensure that the Great Powers did not walk away from the United Nations, New Zealand joined many of the other small countries and abstained from the vote that gave Permanent Members the power of veto: a UN Charter with the veto was better than no Charter at all.
New Zealand is strongly supportive of the need to improve the efficiency and transparency of the Council’s working methods, and has welcomed the Small Five or S5 resolution (proposed by Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Jordan, Costa Rica and Singapore) as a good contribution to this goal. We share with the S5 the belief that closer cooperation between the Security Council and the membership at large will help the Security Council in the maintenance of international peace and security.
