Ghana and five northern Euro­pean countries have advocated reforms in the structure of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to reflect a more balanced representation of the UN member countries. According to the countries, which include Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, the imbalanced structure of the council made it unable to fulfill its mandate to maintain international peace and security. Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integra­tion, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, disclosed this to journalists after a meeting with her counterparts from these countries in Accra yesterday. "We called for reforms in the Council to reflect a more balanced representation to enable the council to adapt and respond to new and evolving global challenges like cli­mate change, novel pandemics, and global terrorism," she said. The 15-member UNSC consists of five permanent members with veto power - China, France, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom - while the remaining 10 non-permanent seats are allocated regionally. The 10 seats include three seats for African states; two each for Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe and other states; and one for Eastern Europe.