President Irfaan Ai has made a case for Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean to have permanent representation on the United Nations (U.N) Security Council.
During his address at the UN General Assembly, the President said the Security Council needs restructuring to reflect the geopolitical realities of today.
“We need a Security Council that reflects the geopolitical realities of the twenty-first century, not the power structures of 1945; a Council that embraces the emerging multi-polarity of our world, including permanent representation from Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean,” President Ali told the world leaders.
The U.N Security Council has only five permanent members – China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The African countries have been leading the push for more representation.
President Ali said if the United Nations is to remain humanity’s best hope, it must not retreat from multi-lateralism.
He said the security of one nation cannot be at the insecurity of another, adding that in an inter dependent world, cooperation is a necessity.
President Ali said there can be no enduring prosperity, when inequality deepens.
“This eighty-first session of the General Assembly must recommit itself. But recommitment cannot mean merely repeating the language of yesterday. The world has changed, and multilateralism must change with it. We need a new and invigorated multilateralism—one equal to the turbulence of our age, sufficiently courageous to confront its trials, sufficiently imaginative to navigate its transformations, and sufficiently principled to defend the rule of international law. To make the United Nations fit for purpose we must make it more transparent, accountable and responsive,” President Ali submitted.
The President said the UN General Assembly must be strengthened to give greater weight to its deliberative and representative authority, adding that it must bring greater coherence to a system too often divided by institutional rivalries, bureaucratic silos and competing mandates.
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