The veto power, a special voting right, is held by the five permanent members of the Security Council – China, France, Russia, Britain, and the United States. If any one of these nations casts a negative vote, the resolution or decision is automatically defeated.

The resolution is expected to improve the transparency of the Security Council and make countries with veto power more cautious.

UNGA president Dennis Francis said that at this precarious time of heightened geopolitical tensions and when ongoing and emerging crises demand our urgent and decisive action, it would be a dereliction of duty by the General Assembly if they stood idly by and allowed the unrestrained use of the veto to paralyze not only the council itself but the United Nation’s ability to respond efficiently to questions of international peace and security.

At the debate, many ambassadors pointed out that the veto has been used six times in six months regarding Palestine and the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Last week the United States used its veto regarding Palestine’s bid for UN membership.

Some ambassadors called for urgent reform of the Security Council to further limit or even eliminate veto privileges.