The President of Ghana has called on world leaders to be courageous enough to undertake a massive reform of the United Nations in order to address imbalances in the global political systems.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the UN cannot reasonably purport to preach peace and fairness across the world when there are traces of unfairness and imbalance in the UN bodies.
Speaking at the 72nd United Nations General Assembly meeting currently underway in New York, US, the president said the time is long overdue to correct the imbalances in the UN systems and give African countries better representations on the UN Security Council.
“It has been talked about and scheduled for a long time, but, somehow, we have never found the courage and the will to reform the United Nations. Ghana supports the process of UN Reform, especially of the UN Security Council, as set out in Africa’s Common Position on UN Reform, based on the Ezulwini Consensus. The time is long overdue to correct the longstanding injustice that the current structure and composition of the UN Security Council represent for the nations of Africa,” he said.
The Security Council is one of the six main organs established under the UN Charter and considered the most powerful. The primary role of the Security Council is to ensure the maintenance of international peace and security.
It is for the Security Council to determine when and where a UN Peacekeeping operation should be deployed.
However, the membership of the Security Council is limited to a privileged powerful few who are permanent members.
Per the structure of the Security Council, there are five permanent members- China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States- with 10 other non-permanent members.
The ten non-permanent members are derived through a process rotation.
Addressing World leaders, president Nana Akufo-Addo appreciated the confidence the UN has in Ghana and its leaders but urged the world body to do more in terms of recognizing the role of Africa in its operations.
“We cannot continue to preach democracy and fairness around the world, we cannot insist on peace and justice around the world, when our global organisation is not seen by the majority of its members as having a structure that is just and fair. It is, indeed, seen by many as helping to perpetuate an unfair world order.
“This Organisation provides the best vehicle for the world to manage its many varied problems, and we would undermine its credibility and fail in our duty if we do not reform the United Nations. We dare not let ourselves and future generations down. The time for reform has come,” he said.