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African leaders used the opening of the United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) 80th high-level session in New York to demand sweeping reforms and stronger action on the world’s most urgent crises. Meeting under the theme “Better Together: 80 Years and More for Peace, Development, and Human Rights,” they urged a more equitable international order and a United Nations that reflects Africa’s rising geopolitical influence.
Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai denounced the absence of permanent African representation on the UN Security Council as a “historic injustice”, vowing that Liberia’s current term on the council would be used to press for change. He argued that Africa, despite contributing heavily to peacekeeping and bearing much of the council’s workload, remains excluded from key decisions shaping global security.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa placed climate change at the forefront, warning it is an “existential threat” that worsens poverty, hunger and instability across Africa. He called for the full implementation of the Paris Agreement, including long-promised financing for adaptation and loss-and-damage support to the world’s most vulnerable nations.
The Israeli bombardment in Gaza also drew strong reactions. Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye described the humanitarian crisis there as an “indescribable tragedy” and reiterated Senegal’s commitment to a two-state solution, demanding an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access. Ramaphosa highlighted South Africa’s ongoing genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, citing a recent UN commission’s findings of atrocities in the Palestinian territories.
African leaders also condemned rising global protectionism. Ramaphosa warned that trade is increasingly “used as a weapon”, destabilising development efforts and threatening already fragile economies. Despite the breadth of issues, the continent’s leaders presented a united and assertive stance, calling for a UN system capable of addressing conflicts from Ukraine to Sudan while tackling deepening economic inequality and the climate emergency.
