On 18 September 2023, we mark the 50th anniversary of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic joining the United Nations (UN). Germany is a reliable partner to the United Nations and a principled defender of an international order that is anchored in the United Nations Charter and international law.

In recent decades, the reunified Germany has assumed increasing responsibility in the United Nations. Germany is now the second-largest contributor to the UN system as a whole and the second-largest bilateral donor of humanitarian assistance. Germany has been a member of the UN Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council several times and can look back on a long tradition of German participation in numerous UN peace missions. It is home to the UN Campus in Bonn, which plays a crucial role in key issues defining the future, and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg. Did you know that 33 UN institutions with around 1000 employees work in Germany?

Germany is committed to strengthening the United Nations. For only by joining forces can the international community effectively tackle the major global challenges of our time – the climate crisis, maintaining world peace, socio-economic inequality and ongoing food insecurity. In order to ensure that the United Nations can remain capable of acting in the future, Germany is campaigning for a multilateral order and cooperation in a spirit of partnership, based on international law and justice as well as shared values and goals such as peace and security, freedom and human rights, and sustainability and development.

Germany is willing to assume responsibility for peace and security once again in the most important United Nations body. It is for this reason that Germany is applying for a non‑permanent seat on the Security Council for the 2027/28 term. Germany is also campaigning for reform of the UN Security Council. If it is not to lose relevance, legitimacy and authority, the Security Council – almost 80 years after it was founded – must reflect the realities of the 21st century. That includes, for example, appropriate representation of African states and the central contributors.