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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for urgent reform of the UN to increase African representation, including permanent seats on the Security Council, a “historic injustice” he said must be corrected.
Guterres spoke on Monday at a ground-breaking ceremony for a $340 million expansion of the UN’s Kenyan campus in Nairobi.
“We need deeper reforms of… global institutions that reflect the world as it is today, not as it was 80 years ago, and this includes the Security Council, where a historic injustice persists in denying Africa permanent seats,” Guterres told reporters.
Asked by AFP for a realistic roadmap towards Security Council reform, Guterres acknowledged it would be “difficult.”
“But there are some steps already in the right direction,” he said, pointing to efforts by Britain and France to limit the use of the veto by permanent members in extreme situations like genocide.
“It’s important to say that reform is absolutely necessary, because with the geopolitical divides we are witnessing, to secure peace and security in the present world is becoming extremely, extremely difficult and we need an effective Security Council,” Guterres said.
Guterres has repeatedly called over the years for change to give Africa and other regions better representation at the UN.
However, the request has made little progress as it requires the five permanent Security Council members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – to agree to dilute their own power.
His comments came as French and Kenyan foreign affairs officials discussed Security Council reform on the sidelines of a two-day summit co-hosted by France and Kenya, bringing together African leaders and business executives.
Guterres was in Kenya to break ground on a $340 million expansion of the UN’s Nairobi campus, part of efforts to cut costs by moving staff from New York and Geneva offices.
“It is a cheaper location than others… It’s good business for the UN,” Guterres said.
Over 4,000 employees and more than 80 UN offices are now housed on the campus, which started out as a regional centre for the UN’s housing and environmental divisions.
Under President Donald Trump, Washington has drastically reduced its contributions to the UN, particularly in humanitarian aid, and has threatened to do so in the future, increasing pressure on the organisation to cut costs.
