Necva Taştan Sevinç
12 May 2026•Update: 12 May 2026
Eleven African countries have joined a France- and Mexico-led initiative aimed at limiting the use of the veto at the UN Security Council in cases involving mass atrocities, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday.
In a statement on the US social media company X, Barrot said the new endorsements were announced during the Africa Forward Summit in Kenya.
“A step has been taken to protect the world's people from mass atrocities: genocide, crimes against humanity, and the most serious war crimes,” Barrot said.
According to the French minister, the addition of the 11 African countries brought the total number of states supporting the initiative to 118.
The initiative, launched by France and Mexico in 2015, calls on the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to voluntarily refrain from using their veto power in situations involving genocide, crimes against humanity, and large-scale war crimes.
The proposal seeks to prevent the Security Council from being blocked from taking action during major humanitarian crises.
“We can no longer wait to restore the UN's effectiveness, which must no longer be hampered by the misuse of the veto,” Barrot said.
“I urge all countries that have not yet done so to join us,” he added.
The veto power is held by the council’s five permanent members, including the US, Russia, China, France, and the UK.
