UNITED NATIONS, CMC—The outgoing President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Dennis Francis, on Monday urged a reform of the United Nations Security Council amid calls for Africa to be allowed to become a permanent member of the country.
The Trinidad and Tobago diplomat highlighted Africa’s key role in global peace and security, further underscoring the need for reform, and drew on his visits, citing firsthand experiences in South Sudan, where he met a few weeks ago with internally displaced persons (IDPs) and witnessed the vital work of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
Francis also shared insights from his meetings in Haiti, where he discussed the deployment of the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) following the adoption of Council Resolution 2699 to help bring peace and stability to the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country.
He told the UN Security Council that these reflected Africa’s significant and growing role in addressing global security challenges.
Francis also pointed out that the UNGA is actively addressing the issue through intergovernmental negotiations and has urged member states to engage constructively towards substantial reform.
“Our objective is to create solutions through a well-designed process. Most importantly, it is to win back the trust and the confidence of ‘we the peoples’ of the United Nations,” Francis said.
Earlier, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent reform of the Security Council. He criticized its outdated structure and lack of representation for Africa, which he argued undermines the body’s credibility and global legitimacy.
Guterres said the Council’s composition reflected the balance of power at the end of World War Two and has failed to keep pace with a changing world.
“In 1945, most of today’s African countries were still under colonial rule and had no voice in international affairs,” he said.
“We cannot accept that the world’s preeminent peace and security body lacks a permanent voice for a continent of well over a billion people…nor can we take that Africa’s views are undervalued on questions of peace and security, both on the continent and around the world.
“Ensuring this Council’s full credibility and legitimacy means heeding the longstanding calls from the UN General Assembly, various geographic groups – from the Arab Group to the Benelux, Nordic, and CARICOM countries – and some permanent members of this Council itself, to correct this injustice,” Guterres told the high-level debate on addressing the historical injustice and enhancing Africa’s effective representation on the Security Council that Sierra Leone convened, the Council president for August.
The 15-member Security Council includes five permanent members with veto power and the ability to block decisions, even if all other members support the proposal: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. At the same time, the remaining ten non-permanent seats are allocated regionally.
The regional allocation includes three seats for African States, two each for Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Western Europe and Other States, and one for Eastern European States.
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