Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council debate on “Maintenance of Peace and Security: Addressing the Historical Injustice and Enhancing Africa’s Effective Representation in the United Nations Security Council”, in New York today:
I thank Sierra Leone for convening this debate. Since 1945, the United Nations Security Council has been a bedrock of global peace and security. But, the cracks in its foundation are becoming too large to ignore. They are contributing to deadlock, stalemate and stagnation around today’s most pressing crises. And they are feeding a broader crisis of credibility and legitimacy that is affecting multilateralism itself.
The Security Council was designed by the victors of the Second World War, and reflects the power structures at that time. The world has changed since 1945. But, the composition of the Council, despite a few changes, has not kept pace.
In 1945, most of today’s African countries were still under colonial rule and had no voice in international affairs. This created a glaring omission that has remained unresolved until now: there is no permanent member representing Africa in the Security Council, and the number of elected members from the continent is not in proportion to its importance.
We cannot accept that the world’s pre-eminent peace and security body lacks a permanent voice for a continent of well over a billion people — a young and rapidly growing population — making up 28 per cent of the membership of the United Nations. Nor can we accept that Africa’s views are undervalued on questions of peace and security, both on the continent and around the world.
Africa is under-represented in global governance structures — from the Security Council to international financial institutions — but over-represented in the very challenges these structures are designed to address. Conflicts, emergencies and geopolitical divisions have an outsized impact on African countries. Läs referatet