Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations

Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations

Type	UN Bloc
Purpose	Support of the United Nations' founding treaty
Headquarters	Geneva, Switzerland and New York City, United States
Membership	Algeria Belarus Bolivia Cambodia China Cuba Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Iran Laos Mali Nicaragua North Korea Russia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Syria Venezuela Zimbabwe Non-UN Members: Palestine Inactive: Angola

The Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations is a grouping at the United Nations, established in July 2021, in New York, by 17 U.N. Member States; namely, (Algeria, Angola, Belarus, Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Laos, Nicaragua, Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Palestine, Syria, and Venezuela). Subsequently, Equatorial Guinea, Zimbabwe, and Mali have joined the Group, expanding its current membership to 20 countries.

The main goal of the grouping is to issue a message in support of the United Nations' founding treaty, commonly referred to as the UN Charter, seeking to promote multilateralism and diplomacy over the use of force against perceived violations from other UN Member States. The grouping was initiated by Venezuela. In response to the creation of the group, a senior European diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters declared that "These so-called friends are the ones who have done most to breach the charter. Maybe they should start by respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms in their own countries."

The March 10 2021 concept note said "the world is seeing a growing resort to unilateralism, marked by isolationist and arbitrary actions, including the imposition of unilateral coercive measures or the withdrawal from landmark agreements and multilateral institutions, as well as by attempts to undermine critical efforts to tackle common and global challenges."

In September 2022, 5 additional countries (being Burundi, Ethiopia, Namibia, South Africa and Vietnam) as well as Mali (now an official member) participated as guests and/or observer(s) at the 3rd Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Friends, held in New York City, on the margins of the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly.

The Group of Friends operates in New York, since its establishment in July 2021, and during first quarter of 2023 initiated its activities in Geneva. The Members of the Group of Friends have agreed to continue identifying other potential spaces for expanding the scope of action of the grouping, particularly to other cities that host United Nations Offices or other International Organizations.

Membership

The following countries are the members of the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter, with a breakdown by continents as follows: 7 in Asia, 6 in Africa, 3 in North America, 2 in Europe, and 2 in South America.

1. Algeria
2. Angola (inactive)
3. Belarus
4. Bolivia
5. Cambodia
6. China
7. Cuba
8. North Korea
9. Equatorial Guinea
10. Eritrea
11. Iran
12. Laos
13. Mali
14. Nicaragua
15. Palestine
16. Russia
17. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
18. Syria
19. Venezuela
20. Zimbabwe

External links

• Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations