UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for reform, saying the African continent is underrepresented in a changing world.
The head of the United Nations has called for the UN Security Council (UNSC) to reform its outdated structure and give Africa a permanent place at the table, stressing that the continent is underrepresented.
Addressing the Council on Monday during a high-level debate, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the composition of the United Nations Security Council has failed to keep pace with a changing world.
“We cannot accept that the world’s premier peace and security body should lack a permanent voice for a continent of more than a billion people… nor can we accept that Africa’s voices should be undervalued on issues of peace and security, both on the continent and around the world,” he said.
The 15-member United Nations Security Council is composed 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 for African states, two each for Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe and other states, and one for Eastern Europe.
In May, the United Nations Security Council called for a strengthened role for African countries in addressing global security and development challenges.
Today I headed to the @UNITED NATIONS Security Council on the urgent need for #United Nations Security Council reform, highlighting the historical injustice of Africa's under-representation.
We must reflect the world as it is, not as it was 80 years ago.
The credibility of the UN depends on significant change.
YO… image.twitter.com/Jkozt3YCJ8
— President of the United Nations General Assembly (@UN_PGA) August 12, 2024
UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis said in the debate that the UN must reflect the world as it is.
“The fact that Africa remains grossly underrepresented on the Security Council is simply wrong, as it offends both the principles of equity and inclusion,” he said.
“It goes against the principle of sovereign equality of States and demands the urgent reform of this institution so that it reflects the world as it is now, rather than what it was almost 80 years ago.”
A 'favorable' moment
Speaking at the UN Security Council, Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio said Africa demands two permanent seats on the UN Security Council and two additional non-permanent seats.
.@PresidenteBio of #SierraLeone speaking in the #UNITED NATIONS Security Council in the face of historic injustice against #Africa and improve the effective representation of the continent in the #United Nations Security Council:“Africa demands two permanent seats on the UN Security Council and two additional seats… photo.twitter.com/bf2Ny6KdVB
— Rami Ayari (@Raminho) August 12, 2024
“The African permanent members will be elected by the African Union. Africa wants the veto to be removed. However, if UN member states wish to retain it, it should be extended to all new permanent members as a matter of fairness,” he said.
Carlos Lopes, a professor at the University of Cape Town who previously served as a high representative of the African Union (AU), told Al Jazeera that African attempts to have better representation are not new, but current geopolitics have made the current moment “quite favourable”.
“[There’s] “It is a competition for African votes; it has become much more difficult to align the African bloc with one position or another,” Lopes said.
“Africans have been very good at navigating these geopolitical tensions. We have seen this with the expansion of the membership of the G20 to include the African Union. Now it is another attempt by Africans to go further and try to do so in the Security Council.”
