Antonio Guterres, Modi Discuss BRICS Priorities, Global Conflicts and AI Weapons

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Guterres Backs Permanent African Seat on UN Security Council

By Deepak Arora

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 22: UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday made a direct call for permanent African representation on the Security Council, saying the body must be reformed to reflect the realities of the 21st century.

Addressing the opening of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, Guterres said the Security Council was created in the aftermath of World War II, but the world has changed fundamentally since then.

That transformation, he said, is “far from reflected” in the composition of the Council.

“The most stunning example is Africa,” Guterres told world leaders.

He noted that when the United Nations was founded, most of Africa was still under colonial rule. Yet decades later, the continent still has no permanent representation on the Security Council.

“A 21st century Security Council without permanent African seats is unjust and indefensible,” Guterres said.

Guterres linked Security Council reform to the broader need for a more balanced and representative system of global governance.

Earlier in his address, he said the international system continues to reflect power arrangements that belong largely to a bygone era.

He called for a Security Council that reflects today’s world and has the legitimacy and effectiveness needed to deal with current global challenges.

“A networked multipolar world can create the conditions for more balanced and representative global problem-solving,” he said, arguing that this requires a multilateral system centered on the United Nations and supported by institutions that reflect the changing weight of countries and economies.

The Secretary-General’s remarks put Africa’s long-standing demand for a greater role at the center of the debate over reform of the Council.

Africa currently has three elected, non-permanent seats on the 15-member Security Council, but none of the five permanent seats, which are held by China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Guterres did not propose a specific model for allocating permanent African seats in the portion of his address devoted to reform. His message was instead unequivocal that the absence of permanent African representation is no longer compatible with the realities of the modern international system.

His call comes as pressure for reform of the Security Council continues to grow, with questions over representation, legitimacy and the Council’s ability to respond effectively to conflicts and other global crises.

For Guterres, reform is also part of a larger effort to ensure that international institutions keep pace with a world that has moved well beyond the geopolitical realities of 1945.

The Secretary-General said the choice facing the international community was whether power would continue to be governed by outdated arrangements or whether institutions would be reshaped to reflect contemporary realities.

His conclusion on Africa was blunt: permanent African representation on the Security Council must become part of that change.