S/PV.9702 Security Council

I would like to warmly welcome the distinguished Ministers and other high-level representatives present in the Security Council Chamber. Their presence here today underscores the importance of the subject matter under discussion. In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representatives of Bahrain, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, India, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Namibia, Pakistan, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia to participate in this meeting. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the following briefers to participate in this meeting: His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis, President of the General Assembly; and Ms. Sithembile Mbete, Senior Lecturer in Political Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I also invite Her Excellency Ms. Katarina Clifford, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2024/574, which contains the text of identical letters dated 30 July 2024 from the Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council, transmitting a concept note on the item under consideration. I now warmly welcome the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, and give him the floor.

I thank Sierra Leone for convening this debate. Since 1945, the Security Council has been a bedrock for global peace and security. But the cracks in its foundation are becoming too large to ignore, contributing to deadlock, stalemate and stagnation around today’s most pressing crises. And they are feeding a broader crisis of credibility and legitimacy that is affecting multilateralism itself. The Security Council was designed by the victors of the Second World War and reflects the power structures of that time. The world has changed since 1945. But the composition of the Council, despite a few changes, has not kept pace. In 1945, most of today’s African countries were still under colonial rule and had no voice in international affairs. That created a glaring omission that has remained unresolved to this day. There is no permanent member representing Africa on the Security Council and the number of elected members from the continent is not in proportion to its importance. We cannot accept that the world’s pre-eminent peace and security body lacks a permanent voice for a continent of well over a billion people  — a young and rapidly growing population that makes up 28 per cent of the membership of the United Nations. Nor can we accept the fact that Africa’s views on questions of peace and security are undervalued, both on the continent and around the world. Africa is underrepresented in global governance structures — from the Security Council to international financial institutions  — but overrepresented in the very challenges that those structures are designed to address. Conflicts, emergencies and geopolitical divisions have an outsized impact on the African continent. The Council’s agenda is proof of that. Nearly half of all country-specific or regional conflicts on its agenda concern Africa. Those conflicts are often exacerbated by greed for Africa’s resources, which are vital to the global economy, and they are further spread and aggravated by the interference of external actors. The message is clear. There can be no global security without African security. Meanwhile, African countries are ground down by crushing burdens of debt and a lack of financing, thanks to a global financial architecture in which they are underrepresented and denied the level of support that they require. And they also contend with ferocious flooding and droughts caused by a climate crisis they did nothing to create. But through it all, Africa has proved to be a willing and able partner for peace, particularly with the United Nations, both on the continent and beyond. Through the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, we are addressing complex challenges on the continent from the Central African Republic and Somalia to the Sahel and the crisis in the Sudan. We are working with the African Union and regional and subregional organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States to end the scourge of terrorism, which has killed tens of thousands on the African continent, including 11 of our personnel in the Abuja bombing of 2011. Together, we are helping to ensure security, stability and respect for human rights and the rule of law, while supporting democratic processes and institutions. And resolution 2719 (2023) has now established a framework for the predictable financing of African Union-led peace support operations authorized by the Security Council through assessed contributions, which is an important vote of confidence in African capacities and in our partnership. We are now developing a joint road map to carry that forward. Meanwhile, African countries host almost half of all United Nations peacekeeping operations, while contributing troops of their own to global hotspots over the years, now including in Lebanon. More than 40 per cent of United Nations peacekeepers are African. And let us not forget the meaningful efforts that have been made by African-led forces to restore peace, from Somalia to Lake Chad, from Mozambique to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In times of crisis and geopolitical division, African countries are often among the first to champion peace, multilateral solutions and adherence to international law and the Charter of the United Nations. But African efforts and contributions are not being matched by Africa’s representation. Ensuring the Council’s full credibility and legitimacy means heeding the long-standing calls to correct that injustice from the General Assembly, various geographic groups — including the Group of Arab States and the Benelux, Nordic and Caribbean Community countries  — and from some of the permanent members of the Council itself. If different parts of the world are to contribute to the Council’s proceedings, a reform of its membership must be accompanied by a democratization of its working methods. The New Agenda for Peace puts forward a number of ideas, from more burden- sharing among Council members to more systematic consultations with host States, regional organizations and countries contributing troops and police. It also calls for improvements and innovation in other parts of the global architecture whose work has a bearing on peace and security. It recommends that Member States elevate the work of the Peacebuilding Commission to realize its untapped potential and help mobilize support for national and regional prevention strategies. That includes closer ties with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and regional development banks in order to secure sustainable financing for countries as they strengthen peace and security, with important implications for countries on the African continent. The Peacebuilding Fund has been a critical catalyst for mobilizing the contributions of international financial institutions. The New Agenda also calls for the General Assembly to play a revitalized role in the area of peace and security. The New Agenda for Peace has been informing negotiations on the Pact for the Future, to be adopted at next month’s Summit of the Future. The Summit provides a critical opportunity to make progress on these issues and help ensure that all countries can meaningfully participate in global governance structures as equals. I urge all States Members to attend and contribute their views and ideas so that African voices are heard, African initiatives are supported and African needs are met. (spoke in French) African voices, African ideas and African participation must be afforded full consideration in the Council’s deliberations and work. That is not just a matter of ethics and justice but also of a strategic imperative that can increase overall acceptance of the Council’s decisions, to the benefit of Africa and the world. I call on all States Members to seize this opportunity to forge an ambitious Pact for the Future that lays the foundations for a global peace and security architecture that truly represents all countries on an equal footing.

I thank the Secretary-General for his briefing. I now give the floor to the President of the General Assembly. Mr. Francis (Trinidad and Tobago), President of the General Assembly: Let me begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to you, Mr. President, and to the Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the United Nations for the kind invitation to participate in today’s important open debate. I applaud the choice of theme  — “Addressing the historical injustice and enhancing Africa’s effective representation in the United Nations Security Council” — and welcome the decision to also bring an esteemed voice from civil society, Ms. Sithembile Mbete, into the conversation, thereby ensuring a more complete exploration of the issues. For my part, that is just the kind of inclusion that I have sought to promote in the programme of work of the General Assembly throughout my presidency, and I encourage further deepened collaboration with relevant stakeholders. Indeed, today’s topic speaks to the urgent and long overdue need to reform the Security Council, a call that resonates too well with Africa, as the region that continues to bear the predominant brunt of conflict, and with Sierra Leone itself, which has endured but has had to overcome peace and security challenges of its own. It is a call that grows louder by the day as the world grapples with crisis after crisis and as the pressure continuously mounts on the United Nations itself. In turn, that unacceptable state of affairs calls on the Council, working in close collaboration with the General Assembly, to do much more to take decisive action in the face of recurring violence and unbearable human suffering. As Council members know better than most, our world is mired in myriad challenges. From conflict and climate change to the advent of new and masterful technological innovations that are transforming every facet of human existence almost on a daily basis, the world today is very different from what it was in 1945. It is a world in which 193 Member States now make up the United Nations  — considerably up from the 50 that gathered in San Francisco to establish the United Nations in 1945. It is a world demanding that institutions adapt to current realities and at the scale and pace that are required to create meaningful change in people’s lives. Amid those pressures, there are legitimate and growing calls for a Security Council that is more representative, responsive, democratic and transparent. There are also accompanying calls for a revitalized General Assembly that not only assumes a greater role in peace and security matters but also holds the Council, as the primary custodian of international security, more accountable for its actions — and indeed its inaction. For Africa, peace is the key to unlocking its full and extraordinary potential. During my official visits to the continent, I have seen first-hand the consequences of an absence of peace and the importance of the work of the United Nations on the ground. In South Sudan, in particular, I had the privilege of engaging directly with representatives of internally displaced persons and also of spending time with the entities and Blue Helmets proudly serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. Beyond continental shores, I met with political leaders in Haiti to discuss the deployment of a multinational security support mission led by Kenya, following the Council’s adoption of resolution 2699 (2023). A strengthened role for African countries in addressing global security and development challenges is paramount, as the Council’s presidential statement (S/PRST/2024/2), adopted unanimously in May, makes clear. Africa is home to 54 of the 193 Members of the United Nations. The continent is home to 1.3 billion of the world’s people, hosts a majority of United Nations peacekeeping missions and consistently provides four of the top 10 countries contributing their nationals to the ranks of the Blue Helmets. The fact that Africa continues to be manifestly underrepresented on the Security Council is simply wrong, offending as it does the principles of both equity and inclusion. It runs counter to the principle of sovereign equality of States and demands that we call urgently for reform of this institution so as to reflect the world as it is now, rather than what it was nearly 80 years ago. Let me conclude by saying that, for its part, the General Assembly is actively engaged in this important issue in the context of the intergovernmental negotiations. It is encouraging that Member States are not denying the historical injustice and we are seeing that the momentum for change is building. During the latest iteration of the intergovernmental negotiations process, the discussions on the five clusters and models supported the strengthening of Africa’s representation in the Council. As an important outcome of that process, it is also encouraging that the current draft of the input to the Pact of the Future refers to Africa’s historical injustice as matter of priority and to the importance of treating Africa as a special case. I am pleased that most Member States agree that reform of the Council must answer that call. In the end, I hope that actually means something to the work of finally addressing the historical injustice and will not simply remain empty pledges without action, because the question of Africa’s effective representation on the Security Council speaks directly to the credibility of the United Nations itself as an inclusive and democratic Organization. As the global institution at the heart of our multilateral system, fighting to deliver global public goods, including peace and security, we cannot continue to take the relevance of the United Nations for granted. We must earn it daily with the actions we take — including meaningful reform — if we are to move our institution forward and establish its credibility among the publics we serve. I commend Sierra Leone’s prioritization of the issue of equitable representation on the Security Council and its emphasis on prevention and proactive action in addressing peace and security challenges. I also want to take this opportunity to encourage all Member States to continue to contribute constructively to the intergovernmental negotiations process under the auspices of the General Assembly. Our objective is to create solutions through a well-designed process, and, most importantly, to win back the trust and confidence of we the peoples of the United Nations.

I thank the President of the General Assembly for his briefing. I now give the floor to Ms. Mbete. Ms. Mbete: I would like to thank the presidency of Sierra Leone for hosting this debate on the maintenance of international peace and security, addressing this historical injustice and enhancing Africa’s effective representation in the United Nations Security Council, and for giving me the opportunity to brief the Council on the matter. In July 2005, at the African Union’s fifth ordinary session, held in Sirte, Libya, Africa’s leaders adopted the Common African Position on proposed reforms of the United Nations, commonly known as the Ezulwini Consensus. Negotiated in the lush Ezulwini valley of the Kingdom of Eswatini, that agreement was a response to the reform process initiated by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. The Ezulwini Consensus expressed the desire that Africa be fully represented in all decision-making bodies of the United Nations, particularly the Security Council. Africa’s experience of the United Nations system over the past 80 years has been one of misrepresentation and underrepresentation. The misrepresentation has been in the perpetuation of narratives of the continent as a basket case of uncivilized and backward societies that are always recipients of aid rather than agents of progress. The underrepresentation has been in the exclusion of the continent from permanent membership of the Council and inadequate representation in the category of non-permanent members. The Common African Position calls for Africa to have no less than two permanent seats with all the prerogatives and privileges of permanent membership, including the right of the veto, as well as a total of five non-permanent seats. Africa’s special claim to being prioritized in the expansion of the Council is threefold — first, to repair the historical injustice of its underrepresentation in global governance; secondly, to recognize African contributions in shaping the contemporary world order; and thirdly, the urgency of ensuring the legitimacy of the United Nations in the face of emerging threats to the maintenance of international peace and security. I will address each of those in turn. The goal of the Common African Position is to correct the historical injustice of Africa’s lack of representation and recognition, but also the myriad historical injustices endured by the African continent over the past 500 years. To define those injustices, let us take a trip back in time to the West African coast in 1450. That year marked the beginning of more than four centuries of the European slave trade in Africa. It started with the capture by the Portuguese of Africans to send back to Portugal and to labour in its Atlantic islands. Over the next 450 years, the trade in humans expanded to include other European countries  — primarily Britain, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain and Denmark  — competing for commercial glory and imperial domination. As Europeans laid claim to territory in the Americas and the Caribbean, the transatlantic slave trade was launched to secure labour for their plantations. Between 1450 and 1888, somewhere between 12 million and 15 million Africans were trafficked across the Atlantic to produce sugar, coffee, tobacco and cotton for the rapidly expanding global capitalist economy. Those commercial crops enriched European nations and forever transformed the demographics of the New World. As the African scholar Adekeye Adebajo argues, the West’s industrialization was literally built on the back of African slavery. For Africa, the slave trade brought about devastating and irrevocable consequences in the form of depopulation, increased warfare to enslave more people, mass migration and ecological damage that exacerbated diseases and food insecurity. That sorry history takes us to Berlin in 1884, where European leaders, enriched by the products of African slavery, gathered to partition and parcel out the continent among themselves. Hungry for the prestige and riches to be gained from imperial expansion, Europe expanded its presence in Africa into the interior of the continent, which was declared res nullius, or no man’s land, despite the millions of people living there. Justified as a civilizing mission, that plunder of the continent cemented the destruction initiated by slavery 400 years earlier of economies, State systems and cultures. One of those uncivilized Africans wrote in the Lagos Observer in February 1885 that until then the world had perhaps never witnessed such high-handed robbery on so large a scale. Africa was helpless to prevent it. It was on the cards that this Christian business could only end in the annihilation of the natives at no distant date. A major consequence of the Berlin conference was the imposition of colonial States with borders drawn with a ruler and pencil that divided communities and operated on a logic based on the extraction and oppression of their populations. That continues to be felt in the unmanageable governance systems on the continent, which are often incompatible with democracy and the rule of law. That has led to intractable violent conflicts. In the 30 years since the end of the cold war, African conflicts have dominated the Council’s agenda. African subjects have taken up nearly 50 per cent of the Council’s meetings and 70 per cent of its resolutions. As was the case in Berlin more than 100 years ago, Africa is permanently on the menu but Africans do not have a permanent seat at the table. Berlin also laid the foundations for the neocolonialism that continues to define Africa’s economic relations with rich nations. Colonialism integrated African economies into the global economy on unequal terms to produce crops and raw materials to meet Western needs. That exploitive relationship continues today. The Honest Accounts 2017 report estimated that Africa loses $203 billion a year through illicit financial flows, profits of multinational corporations and ecological destruction. With the continent receiving around $161 billion a year in loans, remittances and aid, that makes Africa a net creditor to the rest of the world to the tune of $41 billion. Some decades after Berlin, in 1945, world leaders gathered in San Francisco for the establishment of the United Nations. Of the 51 original Member States of the United Nations, only four were African — Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia and the Union of South Africa. Most of Africa was still under colonial rule. Concerns about the legitimacy of the structure, composition and procedures of the Security Council were already evident in 1945. The head of Egypt’s delegation presciently cautioned that permitting any Power, great or small, to sit as both judge and jury on its own case did not contribute to building the worldwide confidence so necessary to the success of a plan for world order. However, the seeds of freedom and self-determination sowed by the Charter of the United Nations spurred the liberation struggles of peoples throughout the continent, leading to the spread of decolonization in the 1950s and 1960s. That brings me to my second point, on the need to recognize the myriad contributions made by African States to the evolution of the United Nations. Africa has not been a mere recipient of United Nations largesse but an active contributor to its success. As more African States gained their independence, they agitated for reform of the Security Council and succeeded in seeing the Council expanded from 11 to 15 members in 1965, with the addition of elected seats for Africa. The African scholar Tandeka Nkiwane observes that despite their relative weakness, the newly independent African States used the principles and established forms of international relations and global discourse to advance the cause of sovereignty and self-determination for Africans. Major milestones in United Nations practice and jurisprudence evolved through the activism of African States, including the declaration of apartheid as a crime against humanity and the adoption of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. Speaking personally, I was 10 years old in 1994 when South Africa democratized, and I would not be here were it not for the efforts of other African States, including Sierra Leone. Over the past 60 years, Africans contributed personnel to United Nations peacekeeping missions, took up the cause of Namibia, or South-West Africa, in the International Court of Justice and became leaders in the Organization, providing two Secretaries-General, several Under-Secretaries- General and heads of various United Nations organs. The African Union and regional actors currently oversee 10 peace operations, composed of more than 70,000 authorized personnel and spread across 17 African countries. African-led peace operations operate with greater flexibility, enable a more rapid response to crisis situations and have proved to be more cost-effective. African peace missions have upheld important United Nations norms by challenging unconstitutional changes of Government. Within the Security Council, successive African States, acting jointly as the three African members of the Council, have cooperated to spearhead informal reforms of Council practice, including sharing the pen on African issues, promoting closer relations between the United Nations and regional organizations and using visiting missions to ensure that security interventions are responsive to the needs of people on the ground in conflict situations. The continent is ready and willing to take up greater leadership and to do so efficiently, effectively, professionally and with integrity. Finally, reform of the United Nations is necessary to ensure its legitimacy in an uncertain future of new and evolving security threats, including climate change, novel pandemics and new technologies such as artificial intelligence. The failure of the Security Council to solve major conflicts in the past decade, including in the Sudan, Libya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Haiti, Myanmar, Ukraine and Palestine, has dented its credibility. The United Nations faces a legitimacy crisis, as Generations Z and Alpha are exposed to its impotence in real time on TikTok and other social media platforms. The youth of Africa are the future. Seventy per cent of Africans are under the age of 30, and despite living in poverty, they are digitally connected and sharing their direct experience of this institution’s failures. Research by the Indian scholar Rohan Mukherjee has shown that representational legitimacy is a necessary condition for good institutional performance, because if institutions are perceived to be exclusive and unfair, members gradually reduce their participation and compliance with them. I would like to beg the Council’s indulgence as we time-travel to 2045, to a meeting in this Chamber commemorating the 100th anniversary of the United Nations. By that point, Africa will have 2.3 billion people, making up 25 per cent of the world’s population. As the most fit and able global demographic, young Africans will be the world’s workforce and consumer base, keeping the global economy in business. Will the membership of the Security Council still look like it does today? Or will the diplomats seated here have had the courage to tackle head-on the power relations preventing meaningful reform? Bringing us back to the present day, as we prepare for the Summit of the Future, Member States have a timely opportunity to advance the agenda of Security Council reform and repair the historical injustice of Africa’s exclusion. The proposals for reforming the Council made by the African Union’s Committee of Ten provide a strong basis for Africa to ensure that the continent is prioritized in the negotiations. The nature of global threats and the definition of international security have changed dramatically since 1945, and the Council must adapt in order to enable it to respond to new security challenges. Such threats can only be resolved by an institution that represents the interests and perspectives of all humankind.

I thank Ms. Mbete for her briefing. I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. I am honoured to address the Security Council with a profound sense of purpose and urgency on a matter of grave importance, the maintenance of international peace and security through reform of the Security Council. Today I will focus specifically on addressing the historical injustice and enhancing Africa’s effective representation on the Council. I thank His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis, President of the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session, and Ms. Sithembele Mbete for their very insightful and thought-provoking briefings. I wholeheartedly welcome the participation of the African Union Committee of Ten Heads of State and Government on the Reform of the United Nations Security Council (C-10) and their representatives in this meeting. I also welcome the participation of representatives of Member States and interest groups engaged in the intergovernmental negotiations in the General Assembly, including the co-Chairs, the Permanent Representatives of Austria and Kuwait. I thank them for their important work and the urgency with which they are carrying out their mandate under the leadership of the President of the Assembly. Today I am speaking as a representative of a continent that has long been underrepresented in the decision-making process that has shaped our world on matters of peace and security. It is now a settled view that the Security Council needs reforming. The imperative of that reform is irrefutable. Nearly 80 years after its creation, the Council is stuck in history. Its unbalanced composition is at odds with current realities and is unjust, undermining its legitimacy and effectiveness. While Africa remains the unquestionable victim, in the absence of structural change the Security Council’s performance and legitimacy remain questionable. Accordingly, as we reflect on the theme and profound implications of the debate, it is essential to recognize how the historical injustice has significantly hindered Africa’s ability to contribute effectively to global governance. The legacy of colonialism, economic exploitation and political marginalization has left deep scars on the continent, affecting its development, stability and influence in international affairs. The United Nations, the cornerstone of international cooperation, was founded on the principles of equality, justice and the collective pursuit of peace. Yet the current structure of the Security Council reflects an outdated world order and an era that fails to recognize Africa’s growing importance and contributions. Despite being home to 1.3 billion people and to the 54 African countries that make up 28 per cent of the total membership of the United Nations, with significant contributions to peacekeeping and conflict resolution, Africa remains grossly underrepresented in this vital organ of the United Nations. That underrepresentation is not a mere statistical anomaly but a profound historical injustice that must be addressed. As a consequence, and under the leadership of the Committee of Ten, Africa has been steadfast in its commitment to rectifying that injustice and imbalance in the Security Council. As the coordinator of the C-10, Sierra Leone has spearheaded efforts to amplify Africa’s voice on this issue. Through the Common African Position, as espoused in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, Africa has articulated a clear and compelling vision and model for reform, one that ensures Africa’s equitable representation and meaningful participation in the Council. Africa demands two permanent seats in the Council and two additional non-permanent seats, bringing its total number of non-permanent seats to five. The African Union will choose the African permanent members. Africa wants the veto abolished. However, if the States Members of the United Nations wish to retain the veto, it must be extended to all new permanent members as a matter of justice. The Common African Position is premised on the fact that by rectifying the historical injustice, the international community will not only promote greater fairness, equity and equality in global governance but will also act on the imperative of ensuring the Council’s legitimacy and effectiveness. It will further unlock Africa’s full potential as a dynamic and vibrant continent capable of contributing meaningfully to the advancement of peace, stability and security worldwide. Africa’s experiences and perspectives remain invaluable in shaping comprehensive and effective solutions to global challenges. We therefore welcome the general convergence that has emerged from the intergovernmental negotiations, as reflected in the co-Chairs’ elements paper, that among Member States there is wider recognition of, and broader support for, the legitimate aspirations of African countries to play their rightful role on the global stage, including through an increased presence on the Security Council, as reflected in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration adopted by the African Union in 2005. Redressing the historical injustice to Africa is viewed as a priority, and several delegations have emphasized that Africa should be treated as a special case. In order for us to fully understand the need to address the historical injustice being done to Africa, I would like to briefly underscore the compelling historical foundations. From the time of the arbitrary partition of Africa during and after the colonial period, African nations were excluded from key international decisions that affected their future. The lack of sovereignty and political representation during those periods has had lasting effects on Africa’s ability to shape global policies and institutions. That historical injustice stems from colonial legacies and power imbalances that persist today. The legacy of slavery intersects with other forms of historical injustice, including colonialism, imperialism and exploitation. Africa has long been marginalized in global decision-making processes, and its voice is often drowned out. That results in a lack of meaningful representation on issues that directly affect the continent, such as conflict prevention, peacekeeping operations, conflict resolution and sustainable development. That systemic bias perpetuates a cycle of marginalization and reinforces the false notion of Africa as a passive actor in shaping global affairs. Furthermore, the political marginalization experienced during colonial rule has contributed to the ongoing struggles for stable governance and political cohesion within African States, further complicating their ability to engage robustly on the global stage. The current architecture of international institutions, including the Security Council, as noted, therefore reflects the geopolitical realities of the post- Second World War era, which largely excluded African voices. Regrettably, the paradigm of non-representation and underrepresentation means that Africa’s perspectives and priorities are overlooked in global decision-making processes. The absence of permanent African representation on the Security Council means that decisions affecting the continent are made without sufficient African input, leading to policies that may not align with the needs and aspirations of African nations. The Council is all too familiar with situations where African mediation and conflict resolution efforts were disregarded for interventions that have had, and continue to have, disastrous consequences for the continent. In view of all of this, the effective representation of Africa on the Council is imperative for several reasons. First, it relates to the very legitimacy of the Council. The Council’s unbalanced composition and the unjust exclusion of Africa from the permanent membership category and underrepresentation in the non-permanent category have already undermined its current legitimacy. The unjust composition also has an adverse impact on the Council’s effectiveness. It has been robustly argued that the performance of institutions like the Council declines as its perceived legitimacy diminishes, and that international legitimacy depends on inclusivity and fairness. Therefore, in order to strengthen the Council, the historical injustice to Africa must be rectified as a matter of priority. Secondly, the importance of upholding equity and justice, particularly for equitable decision-making, cannot be overstated. The historical injustice to Africa contradicts the Organization’s principles of justice, equity and democratic representation. As Council members know too well, those principles directly impact the Council’s work. Accordingly, Africa’s inclusion in the permanent membership category will ensure that decisions affecting the continent are made with direct and meaningful input from the people they impact the most. Thirdly, effective representation is needed to reflect present-day global and geopolitical realities. The geopolitical landscape has evolved significantly since 1945. Africa’s growing economic, political and social influence necessitates its representation in key international forums, including the Council though not limited to it. Given Africa’s population, the number of African Member States and Africa’s political significance and contributions to international peace and security, immediate corrective action by the United Nations is crucial. Fourthly, effective representation is needed for the effective maintenance of international peace and security. It is noteworthy that more than 60 per cent of the Council’s deliberations, decisions and peacekeeping missions are concentrated in Africa or affect it. An enhanced African presence will provide invaluable insights and perspectives that will foster ownership and informed and effective decision-making and interventions. Africa’s demand for reform is rooted in the imperative of addressing the continent’s unique challenges and aspirations. African leadership and African solutions are crucial to addressing African challenges. From persistent and emerging conflicts to terrorism, famine and humanitarian crises, Africa faces a myriad of complex issues that necessitate global cooperation and solidarity with African leadership. The question that now comes to mind is how we can address the historical injustice and enhance Africa’s representation. I strongly believe that the following steps are necessary and can even be considered imperative. First, the importance of speedy and urgent reform of the Security Council cannot be overemphasized. As the Council is the primary body responsible for maintaining international peace and security, the United Nations must undertake comprehensive reform to expand the Council’s membership and enhance its legitimacy and effectiveness. That must include adding permanent seats for Africa. The issue of Security Council reform has been a long-standing item on the agenda of the General Assembly, spanning more than 40 years. The work of the Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security Council started more than 30 years ago, and the current intergovernmental negotiations have been ongoing for more than 15 years. Much like the decolonization movement in the 1960s, the movement for reform and justice for Africa must have an end date. It is absurd for the United Nations to enter into its eighth decade of existence with the scar of injustice against Africa. In addition, a natural step to address the historical injustice being perpetuated against Africa is to enable the continent’s enhanced voice and participation. The United Nations cannot continue to swim against the tide of justice. The African Union’s admission to the Group of 20 remains a welcome development that leads the way. Resolutely, that is where the call for treating Africa as a special case and priority in the Security Council reform process is fully strengthened. Reform of the Council and other global governance structures is about equitable representation of Africa. By prioritizing Africa’s concerns, including enhanced representation within the framework of Security Council reform, the United Nations can demonstrate its commitment to addressing the root causes of conflict and instability on the continent, thereby advancing the cause of peace and prosperity for all. In addressing the historical injustice done to Africa, United Nations Member States, in particular the existing permanent members, have supported Africa’s call for enhanced representation in the Security Council. The next logical step is for the Council and United Nations Member States to champion the call for Africa to be treated as a special case and a priority in the reform process. The fact that that is to be reflected in the Summit of the Future’s Pact for the Future is a further welcome development. Swift implementation is the next logical step, as justice delayed is justice denied. The symbolism of today being International Youth Day reinforces the significance of our endeavour. The time for change is now. The call for enhanced African representation in global governance structures, especially the Security Council, is not just a demand for justice and equity, it is a call for a more inclusive, effective and legitimate international governance system. Let us work together to redress this historical injustice and recreate a Security Council that truly represents the world in all its diversity. The time for half measures and incremental progress is over. Africa must be heard, and its demands for justice and equity must be met. In rectifying the historical injustice that has long plagued the continent, the United Nations has an opportunity to forge a more just and inclusive world order, one that honours the dignity and aspirations of all nations, regardless of their size or stature. Now is the time for action. Africa cannot wait any longer. I resume my functions as President of the Council. I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements. I call on the Permanent Representative of the United States and member of President Biden’s Cabinet.

Let me start by thanking you, Mr. President, for being here with us today and for your leadership in organizing this critical debate, the first ever in the Security Council on this subject. I would also like to thank Secretary-General Guterres, President of the General Assembly Francis and our civil society briefer, Ms. Mbete, for bringing their invaluable perspectives to the table. It has been nearly eight decades since the Council first met and its architects could not have imagined then what the world would look like today, as we cannot imagine what it might look like 70 years from now  — how demographics would shift, what global challenges would emerge and which international Powers would rise up. The earliest beginnings of this body were just that  — they were the beginning. Now, it is upon all of us, all Members of the United Nations, to chart the future for the next generation, to refine, reform, recalibrate and, as my United Kingdom neighbour reminded me last night, to strengthen this body. It is upon us to ensure the Council is more fit for purpose and reflects the realities of today, and that includes ensuring that people across Africa are effectively represented here in the Security Council, in this Chamber. Of course, as members have heard, that is long overdue. Already home to more than 1.2 billion people, half of whom are under the age of 19, Africa has the fastest growing population of any continent. By 2050, one in four people on the planet will be African. And here is what we know: African countries have long played a critical role in strengthening peace and security, in Africa and across the globe. Those countries have advanced that work through their leadership in the Council, through their outsized contributions to peacekeeping missions, through their leadership on climate, on food security, on gender and on youth, peace and security, and through their efforts to resolve conflicts, including those on the other side of the world. In that vein, I want to recognize Kenya’s contributions to the Multinational Security Support Mission to combat gangs in Haiti, which show that Africa’s leadership on the Council is not just about Africa but about the world, and that Africa’s problems are not Africa’s alone to deal with. Therefore, when we talk about reforming and strengthening the Council, we do so not just for the good of African nations but to further international peace and security for us all, because we all benefit when African leaders are at the table. As President Biden announced during the general debate of the General Assembly two years ago (see A/77/PV.6) and reaffirmed last year (see A/78/PV.4), the United States supports permanent representation on the Council for countries from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Since that announcement, I have met with leaders from around the world to hear their perspectives on Security Council reform. Our approaches and ideas are often different, but we agree on one thing: we agree on what the problem is and we agree on what the goals are. Therefore, dialogue is critical. It is the only way to advance an issue that has been stuck for far too long. For our part, the United States is advocating for language in the Pact for the Future that supports increasing both permanent and non-permanent seats on the Security Council. We will push to ensure that the Summit of the Future is a platform for meaningful progress, one that creates a pathway for urgent action on Security Council reform. At the Summit and beyond, we will keep working to achieve Council reform. As we work towards that goal, we must also pursue every other avenue we can to ensure effective United Nations action to prevent and respond to security threats on the African continent and around the globe. In the Sudan and Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gaza, Ukraine — the list could unfortunately go on and on — violence continues to uproot lives and destroy livelihoods, exacerbate food insecurity and further entrench gender inequality and repeat dark chapters of history. We need stronger, faster and more effective action from the Security Council to put an end to that violence. And that is why the United States fully supported the adoption of resolution 2719 (2023), creating a framework for the use of United Nations- assessed contributions for African Union-led peace support operations. That landmark resolution, adopted under the leadership of the African members of the Security Council, creates opportunities to strengthen United Nations-African Union partnerships and to ensure that the United Nations is responsive to security needs on the continent. We will continue to work closely with our colleagues here in New York and in Addis Ababa to operationalize that new arrangement. However, we must also fight against any attempt to undermine Council action in support of Africa. Just look at the threats facing various panels of experts. Those panels are critical United Nations tools that provide Security Council members with credible, timely and detailed information about security threats. And yet, as of late, some on the Council have tried to wind down or obstruct those panels of experts, particularly in Africa. It is imperative that we push back against those efforts to weaken our understanding of security dynamics in Africa and around the world. As many members know, I spent a good part of my life and my career living and working on the continent of Africa, engaging with people on the continent and doing my part to further peace and security and support refugees in the countries that host them, human rights and development and observing up close the ways in which Africa, its people and its countries are stepping up to lead. And as I sit here representing the United States at the United Nations, I carry those life experiences with me, fuelling my own commitment to making the Council more representative and more effective. So let us stop admiring the problem here — we must move to solutions. Today 15 of us sit around this table, and it is my hope that that number grows to include permanent seats for Africa, Latin America and others and that, in doing so, we are better equipped to live up to the mandate  — our mandate  — to prevent the scourge of war and advance peace and security for future generations. I thank Sierra Leone for bringing this important subject to the Chamber. Lord Collins (United Kingdom): May I start by thanking Secretary-General Guterres, President Francis and Ms. Mbete for their excellent briefings to start this discussion. It is a real privilege to be here today as the United Kingdom’s new Minister for Africa and the United Nations. I am very grateful to His Excellency President Bio for putting this vital issue on the agenda. It is important that we have this discussion today. We are running out of time. The challenges we face today do not respect borders, and they are sorely testing the international order that the United Nations has championed. We are seeing the highest number of conflicts since the Second World War, a worsening climate crisis, widespread economic hardship and desperate humanitarian need. That is all fuelling a pervasive sense of insecurity, and we must find truly global solutions to those problems. Let me take this opportunity to underscore the United Kingdom’s belief that multilateral institutions remain indispensable here. But they are struggling under the strain of new global challenges. For those institutions to represent the world of today, they must be as effective as they can be. We will therefore work tirelessly with our allies and partners to strengthen them. For the Security Council, that means expanding our membership in both categories to include permanent African representation as a matter of urgency. We have seen how much African members bring to the Chamber through their experience and expertise, particularly, as we have heard, in terms of responding to conflict and promoting peace and security. As Ms. Mbete said, they are vital agents for change and progress, and they must be heard. The United Kingdom is proud to be working alongside our African partners on issues that are at the forefront of the Council’s agenda. That includes the Sudan, where we are seeking a political solution to end the devastating human-made crisis, which has now resulted in famine in the country, and Somalia, where the Council is working closely with the African Union and the Somali authorities to support the security transition and to counter Al-Shabaab. The experience of your own country, Mr. President, of transitioning from war to peace in partnership with the United Nations provides us with valuable lessons. Of course, I recognize that the obstacles to reform are significant, but the United Kingdom is absolutely determined to overcome them.

It is a great honour for me to convey to the Security Council, and in particular the President of the sister Republic of Sierra Leone, His Excellency Mr. Julius Maada Bio, the greetings of the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and his sincere wishes for the success of our discussion today. He is confident that this open meeting, held at the initiative of the Republic of Sierra Leone, coordinator of the Committee of Ten on Security Council reform, will help to inform the members of the Council about the pillars and objectives of the Common African Position on the issue. I would also like to thank Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, and President of the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session, Mr. Dennis Francis, for their valuable briefings, which set out the overall context and updates on the reform of the Security Council and the challenges it faces. We also listened carefully to the civil society representative, Ms. Sithembile Mbete. In addition, I would like to welcome the high-level participation of His Excellency Mr. Peya Mushelenga, Minister for International Relations and Cooperation of the sister Republic of Namibia, and His Excellency General Jeje Odongo Abubakhar, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uganda. Our meeting today is being held in an international and regional context burdened with challenges and dangers that threaten international peace and security, a context whose defining characteristics are renewed polarization among world Powers, erosion of the authority of international law, the return of a selectivity approach in defining United Nations priorities, double standards and an increasing resort to the use of force as a means of resolving disputes. All that is taking place against the backdrop of the acute crisis that has affected the collective security system and amid the Security Council’s near-total paralysis and repeated failures to put an end to, or even to curb, the policies of faits accompli and unilateral actions, favouring the interests of the strong over the weak and providing protection and political cover for the disgraceful actions of the oppressor at the expense of the legitimate rights of the oppressed. Confronted with that critical situation, the international community looks on, a bystander to successive crises as they deteriorate in an unprecedented manner, thereby hindering the chances of effectively addressing them and threatening the possibilities for finding solutions that meet the requirements of achieving global security and stability. Our African continent has suffered greatly from that painful and critical state of affairs, which has made itself felt powerfully, especially in the Sahelo-Saharan region, where security, development and humanitarian challenges have taken on dangerous and worrisome dimensions. Against the backdrop of increasing foreign interference and conflicts of interest, what we had thought was a bygone historical era is brought to mind once more by the worsening terrorism and organized crime, the spread of hotspots and the return of unconstitutional changes in Government. Those developments impel us to continue working and coordinating our efforts to push African countries that are experiencing temporary turmoil to return to a sound political path and to opt for the language of dialogue and consensual solutions that do not exclude anyone, in order to achieve the security and stability that the peoples of the region aspire to bring about. In that context, it is worth recalling the ongoing suffering of the people of the territory of Western Sahara, colonized for more than 50 years and patiently awaiting the international community’s recognition of their inalienable right to self-determination and an end to the illegal exploitation of their natural resources and to the occupation practices that violate their legitimate rights. That fighting people also looks forward to the implementation of the Security Council resolutions on that issue on its agenda and to concrete and meaningful steps to advance the settlement process within the framework of the established United Nations doctrine on decolonization and in accordance with the agreed criteria established by the Security Council. The veritable tragedy that our brethren in Palestine are enduring, a tragedy that grows worse by the day, is never far from our minds, and neither is the war of extermination waged by the occupation authority against the Palestinian people for more than 10 consecutive months, owing to the Security Council’s inability to deter the Israeli occupier from its crimes and curb its violations of the norms of international law. The Israeli settler occupation has become indifferent to those norms and does not heed in the slightest what the Council decrees, disregarding all the obligations it imposes. Most of those developments, which impose a new reality that we must address in a spirit of responsibility, firmness and rigour, rooted in the system of the values, principles and ideals that guide us, have brought the issue of Security Council reform back to the forefront of the international debate and compel the international community to give that issue the necessary attention. That increases our conviction that the Council today needs Africa’s voice — the voice of wisdom, the voice of commitment and the voice of responsibility. The Common African Position on Security Council reform negotiations is based on the principles outlined in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, which constitute the only and fundamental frame of reference. That position has been reinforced by the consensuses that were included in the final communiqué of the fifth summit of the African Union Committee of Ten Heads of State and Government on the Reform of the United Nations Security Council, held in Oyala, Equatorial Guinea, in November 2023, and the outcome of the eleventh meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the same Committee, hosted by Algeria last June, which can be summarized in the following points. First, there is a need to correct the historical injustice suffered by the African continent, as it is the only continent that is not represented in the permanent category and the most underrepresented in the non-permanent category. Therefore, Africa claims its right to two permanent and two non-permanent seats on the Security Council be upheld, with all the attendant privileges. Secondly, also required is a reform process that restores the Council’s effectiveness and its ability to respond to increasing threats to international peace and security. Consequently, there is a need to crystallize a vision that enables this United Nations organ to steer clear of polarization and to focus more on its role and responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations. Thirdly, there is also a need for a reform that not only the Council becomes more representative of developing countries, foremost among them African countries, but that also encompasses all issues related to the Council’s working methods, the use of the veto and its interaction with other United Nations entities. Merely expanding the membership does not guarantee the required effectiveness unless the rules governing the work of the Council are improved. Representation without effectiveness is not enough, and the required effectiveness and efficiency without adequate representation will not achieve the goal. Fourthly and lastly, the permanent members of the Council must demonstrate explicit support for, and clear commitment to, the reform process by responding effectively to Africa’s legitimate aspirations. Also expected of the permanent members is constructive engagement in the intergovernmental negotiations and earnest efforts to reach a consensus of views on Security Council reform. That also requires a commitment by the General Assembly and the intergovernmental negotiations to serve as an overarching framework in which to address the issue of Security Council reform. Moreover, any attempt to undermine the credibility of that framework in the service of any parallel initiatives or plans must be rejected. Those are the ideas that I wished to share with the Council today on behalf of my country, while reaffirming Algeria’s unwavering adherence and steadfast commitment to the Common African Position on Security Council reform, under the leadership of the Coordinator of African Union Committee of Ten Heads of State and Government on the Reform of the United Nations Security Council, the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, His Excellency Mr. Julius Maada Bio. Within the framework of that approach, and from its position as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, Algeria reaffirms its commitment to being an honest voice in the service of Africa’s interests and aspirations. It will remain faithful to its commitments and eager to push for the historical injustice suffered by our continent regarding unjust regional representation in the Security Council to be redressed. With the same spirit and resolve, Algeria will continue to do its utmost to preserve the credibility of this United Nations organ and ensure its effectiveness and its ability to respond quickly to growing threats to international peace and security.

I thank Secretary- General António Guterres, President of the General Assembly Dennis Francis and Ms. Mbete for their insightful briefings. I begin by commending the outstanding leadership of His Excellency President Bio in holding this timely debate. Japan welcomes Africa’s initiative in taking the driver’s seat in our shared journey of Security Council reform. As Africa has suffered historical injustice, it carries a powerful voice, which reverberates around the globe. Security Council reform is at a critical juncture. Current geopolitical developments have exposed the many challenges surrounding the body. If the Council continues to lack fair representation, its legitimacy, credibility and effectiveness will erode, as will that of the United Nations as a whole. That will serve none of us. As a Council member, Japan has worked together with the three African members of the Security Council to enable the Council to fulfil its expected functions. Japan recognizes Africa’s growing contribution to world peace and security and welcomes Africa’s efforts to shoulder more responsibilities in the Chamber. The landmark resolution 2719 (2023) on the financing of African Union-led peace support operations, adopted last year, is a case in point. Given Africa’s essential role in the Council, redressing the historical injustice against Africa and other unrepresented and underrepresented regions is long overdue. To rectify the existing imbalances and ineffectiveness, the Council has to be reformed with an expansion in both its permanent and non-permanent membership. On reform and other issues alike, Japan is a long-standing partner of Africa. Our guiding principle is to support African ownership and to co-create solutions through partnership. Since 1993, Japan and Africa have stridden forward together under the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) framework, guided by our shared goals. Later this month, ministers from African countries will meet in Tokyo again to discuss how Japan and the international community can contribute to Africa’s endeavour of tackling its challenges and lay the groundwork for the upcoming ninth TICAD summit next year. Our approach of respecting the principle of African solutions to African problems is consistent with our wide-ranging cooperation initiatives, such as our contribution to the United Nations triangular partnership programmes, the Peace Fund of the African Union and peacekeeping operation training centres in Africa. With regard to Security Council reform, Japan’s approach does not vary. We support Africa’s aspirations and work side by side with it, thereby enabling the Council to better address issues in Africa and beyond. Japan, in its national capacity and as a member of the Group of Four (G4), proudly supports the African Common Position, including the demand for no less than two permanent seats for Africa. Pivotal opportunities await. The Summit of the Future will be a vital forum for setting out the progress made thus far concerning reform discussions and sending a forward-looking message for future negotiations. Japan supports the paragraph on Africa in the current draft of the Pact for the Future, which rightly touches on the imperative to redress historical injustice. After the Summit comes the next critical round of the intergovernmental negotiations. We very much look forward to Africa’s reform model being submitted for discussion, as was announced by Sierra Leone on behalf of the African Group in the recent intergovernmental negotiations, and to further advancing efforts to develop a consolidated model as a concrete step forward. As you rightly stated, Mr. President, during the general debate of the high-level week last year (see A/78/  PV.7), the historical injustices endured by the African continent remain unresolved in the intergovernmental negotiations. We have to remind ourselves that the only way to resolve this imbalance is to expand not only non-permanent seats but also permanent seats with all existing rights and responsibilities. Throughout the history of the intergovernmental negotiations, the vast majority of States Members of the United Nations and groups — including the African Group, the G4, L.69 Group, the Caribbean Community, the Group of Nordic Countries, the Benelux group and several permanent members — have been calling for the expansion of both categories. That should be a guiding formula for our actions going forward. We must not lower our ambitions. Just as with other pressing issues facing the United Nations, we need to come together at the negotiating table in the quest for tangible deliverables through negotiations on the basis of a single text. Let me reaffirm our commitment and readiness to do so. We count on Africa as an indispensable partner along the way. Council members can count on us as well. Lastly, I would like to add that Japan aligns itself with the G4 statement to be delivered by the representative of India later.

Mr. President, I thank you for organizing this thematic debate on the important subject of Africa’s representation on the Security Council. I welcome the presence of the Secretary-General and that of the President of the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session, Mr. Dennis Francis. Their presence attests to the importance we collectively attach to Security Council reform and to Africa’s legitimate aspirations. I would also like to thank Ms. Mbete for her briefing. The reform is long-awaited by the vast majority of States Members of the United Nations. It is France’s deep-seated conviction that expanding the Security Council in both categories of membership is essential to bolstering its legitimacy and representativeness, while maintaining the decision-making capacity of this organ, which is the keystone of our system of collective architecture. We are convinced that the reform is possible, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, even without full consensus, as the previous reform in 1963 proved. France’s position is clear, historic and consistent: it is unacceptable that Africa, which accounts for more than a quarter of States Members, is not represented among the permanent members of the Security Council. That must, and can, change now. In that spirit we held a round table in Addis Ababa in April on Security Council reform with the participation of the United Nations, the African Union, the Committee of Ten and our partners in the Group of Four. Reform is possible and Africa can be the catalyst. To that end, we need to embark on concrete negotiations on the basis of a draft resolution without delay. We are tirelessly defending that position in the intergovernmental negotiation process. The Summit of the Future, to be held on 22 and 23 September, is a unique opportunity to reaffirm that goal. France, like most countries, is of the view that an expansion of both membership categories and a greater African presence, including among permanent members, are necessary to that end. The Pact for the Future must live up to and reflect that collective ambition. I would also like to conclude my address with the issue of the veto. Since 2015, France, together with Mexico, has been spearheading an initiative that is separate from Security Council reform, which does not require an amendment to the Charter of the United Nations and seeks to restrict the use of the veto in the event of mass atrocities. The aim of the initiative is twofold: to consolidate the legitimacy of the Council and to strengthen its ability to fully assume its responsibilities in the maintenance of international peace and security. The current crises on which the Security Council is deadlocked show the relevance of the initiative, which already has the support of 106 States from all regions of the world. We call on all those States which have not yet done so to support and participate in this initiative so as to move it forward.

Mozambique wishes to commend Sierra Leone’s presidency for convening this important high-level debate. We thank the Secretary- General, His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, for his strong, principled and long-standing advocacy for and friendship with Africa in the search for a just and fair global peace and security architecture. We are grateful to His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis, President of the General Assembly, for his emphatic support for the strengthening of Africa’s role in global affairs. We thank Ms. Sithembile Mbete for her excellent briefing to the Council. I have been instructed by your brother, Mr. President, His Excellency Mr. Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of the Republic of Mozambique, to convey his warmest greetings and heartfelt congratulations to Your Excellency for brilliantly assuming the presidency of the Security Council. We, Mozambique, and the African continent at large, highly value Sierra Leone’s strong leadership of the African Union Committee of Ten Heads of State and Government on the United Nations Security Council Reforms. Since 2005, Sierra Leone has been at the forefront of advocating reform of the United Nations Security Council and ensuring Africa’s permanent representation, as enshrined in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. Today’s high-level debate is a clear testimony to Sierra Leone’s continued commitment to that sacred mandate. The issue before us has been addressed in many different forums, notably in the context of the intergovernmental negotiations on the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters, as per General Assembly decision 62/557. We note with regret that the Security Council’s engagement in that process has been modest, to say the least. The Council’s position has not changed much since the 1965 expansion that added four elected members to the organ. That historical paralysis has become untenable and problematic in recent years, as crises proliferate and the institutional limitations of the Council, particularly the deficit in representation, become more apparent. The Secretary-General has eloquently articulated that today and during our own signature event in May, dedicated to solidifying Africa’s role in addressing global challenges. He said, “we need to embed African participation and leadership across the global peace and security architecture” and “today African countries continue to be denied a seat at the negotiating table, including in the Security Council” (S/PV.9633, p. 3). Despite continued and unequivocal support for the Common African Position by the overwhelming majority of United Nations Member States, progress towards Africa’s quest remains elusive. To the dismay of African States, the global consensus on the justice and legitimacy of Africa’s call for a permanent seat on the Security Council has devolved into a prolonged, difficult and unfinished process of labour. Therefore, Africa, being the only continent without representation on the Security Council, must drive the call for meaningful actions to rectify the historical injustice it endures. We feel  — the world feels  — that the time has come to unleash Africa’s peace power, for Africa to hold a permanent seat at the Security Council horseshoe table. Mozambique embraces today’s discussion as it echoes the call the Council made in the presidential statement issued during our presidency in May, which states, inter alia, “The Security Council expresses support for progress in enhancing the role and representation of African States in global governance and decision-making processes.” (S/PRST/2024/2) The challenges posed by Africa’s limited representation in the Security Council restricts, to a large extent, the continent’s ability to deliver effective and positive conflict-resolution experience and mechanisms. That can result in delayed international responses, solutions that do not align with the continent’s long-term peace and security goals, an overreliance on external forces and non-African actors and challenges to the effective implementation of the principle of African solutions to African problems. African Member States, whether individually or through regional and subregional organizations, such as the African Union, have been pivotal in maintaining international peace and security. Africa has made sacrifices and faced challenges on behalf of the global community, while lacking appropriate and permanent representation in this important decision-making body. We adopted, in December 2023, the highly acclaimed resolution 2719 (2023), which addresses a long-standing demand of the continent to ensure access to adequate, predictable and sustainable financing for African Union-led peace support operations. However, we believe it will remain insufficient without the influence and authority that comes by virtue of a permanent African seat. To those who argue that expanding the Council would diminish its efficacy, we assert that legitimacy and effectiveness are not mutually exclusive. One does not advance at the expense of the other. In fact, they can be mutually reinforcing. Despite the daunting task of creating a more inclusive, transparent, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable Council and the slow progress of the intergovernmental negotiations, Africa will steadfastly maintain its Common Position in demanding permanent seats on the Security Council. We remain united and will speak with one voice through the Committee of Ten and the African members of the Security Council, guided by the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. Let us remember that one of the other main organs of the United Nations, the General Assembly, was able to correct another historical injustice years ago. In 1960, the General Assembly adopted resolution 1514 (XV), which contains the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples, and says, “[t]he subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights, is contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and is an impediment to the promotion of world peace and co-operation”. We should consider that as a crucial basis on which to correct the injustice that prevails today in the Security Council’s structure. As we build momentum towards the Summit of the Future in September, today’s debate will carry Africa’s call for a reformed Security Council — one that is fit for the twenty-first century and better tailored to the realities, challenges and strengths of our continent and the world at large. Mozambique believes that at the Summit of the Future, Council members should speak with one voice, individually and collectively, in favour of a steadfast correction of the historical injustice, and grant Africa a permanent presence on the Security Council without delay and fully in line with the tenets of the Charter and international law.

China welcomes you, Mr. President, as you preside over today’s meeting, and thanks Secretary-General Guterres, President Francis and Ms. Mbete for their briefings. The world today is undergoing major changes unseen in a century, with the rise of the global South and the unstoppable trend to multipolarity. As the youngest continent, for decades Africa has made relentless efforts in the pursuit of unity and progress, the maintenance of multilateralism and the defence of the common interests of developing countries. It has put forward an active African image and strong African power. African countries have become a vibrant force on the global political stage, rising players in the global economy, core members of the global South, an important pole in a multipolar world and key participants in global governance. At the same time, it is regrettable that the continent is still dealing with many challenges to peace and development, that its countries do not yet have the international respect they deserve, that the expectations of the African people have not received sufficient attention and Africa’s international influence has not been on full display. China hopes that today’s discussion will help all parties gain a more comprehensive insight into the historical injustices against Africa, see the hope for its future and work with African countries and their peoples to promote an equitable and orderly multipolar world and inclusive economic globalization. I would like to make three points. First, the historical injustices that Africa has endured are a huge moral scar on humankind and a major issue that the international community must confront today. Historically, Western countries imposed hundreds of years of brutal colonial rule and blatant racial discrimination on Africa. They conducted an inhumane slave trade and plundered the continent’s resources, depriving the African people of the natural rights and dignity that they deserve, artificially interrupting the historical process of Africa’s development and plunging its countries into a long period of suffering and disaster. That is the root cause of all historical injustices in Africa. To this very day some Western countries still cling to a colonialist mindset, with a self-righteous attitude to African issues. They interfere in African countries’ internal affairs by using financial, legal, sanction-based and even military means and exercise unscrupulous oppression and control over them in the areas of currency, energy, mineral resources and national defence. To rectify the historical injustices against Africa, we must first and foremost unequivocally oppose the legacy of colonialism and every kind of hegemonic practice. Western countries should truly shoulder their historical responsibilities, change their course, cease wrongful practices such as external interference and the imposition of pressure through sanctions and return Africa’s future to the hands of its peoples. Secondly, the redress for historical injustices against Africa must be both holistic and focused. It is important to recognize that they are systemic and structural in nature, that they involve various political, economic, scientific and technological areas and that they manifest themselves in various aspects of rights, opportunities and rules. That is an undeniable fact and a matter of great urgency. China believes that the primary task is to support African countries on a path of sustainable development as the foundation for lasting peace. When we look at the hotspot issues in Africa on the Security Council’s agenda, poverty and underdevelopment are often common denominators. The international community should promote and implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, together with the African Union’s Agenda 2063, and support Africa in industrializing and modernizing and in improving its participation in the international division of labour, so that it can share in the dividends of economic globalization and break the vicious cycle of poverty and instability. Thirdly, if we are to rectify the historical injustices against Africa, the fundamental tasks are accelerating the overhaul of the multilateral governance architecture and enhancing Africa’s representation and voice. Security Council reform is an important part of that overhaul. Based on the common interests of the entire continent, Africa has formed a common position through the Ezulwini Consensus, which reflects the justice and legitimacy of Africa’s demand for reform and enjoys a unique moral advantage. That is fundamentally different from the practice of some countries and interest groups of pursuing their own selfish and small-circle interests when it comes to Council reform. African countries want their claims to be treated as a special case and given priority, a request that deserves the attention and support of the international community. China has taken the lead through its favourable response and explicit support to that request. We are pleased to note that a request along those lines has been included in the passage on Security Council reform in the Pact for the Future and the intergovernmental negotiations co-Chairs’ elements paper, and that Africa’s demand is gaining greater understanding, recognition and support. Reform of the financial architecture is another important area of multilateral governance reform. The current international financial system does not favour developing countries in terms of investment and financing, credit ratings and economic and technical assistance. It imposes many additional conditions that severely hamper the development and revitalization of African countries. The irresponsible monetary policies of some major economies have had serious spillover effects, repeatedly appropriating the hard-won development gains of developing countries. That system is unsustainable and must be reformed and improved as soon as possible. Secretary-General Guterres and the global South have made a strong appeal to the international community to use the Pact for the Future as an opportunity to launch truly ambitious initiatives and push for substantial reform measures. China and Africa are good friends, partners and brothers, with sincere and friendly relations based on mutual assistance and joint development. Since the new China’s foundation, it has been a firm supporter of African countries’ just struggle for independence and national liberation and for a development path for Africa that aligns with its conditions. Since China began reforming and opening up, we have vigorously promoted mutually beneficial cooperation. In recent years, we have upheld President Xi Jinping’s philosophy of true and sincere cooperation with Africa and the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests, and we have fast-tracked the creation of the China-Africa community with a shared future. Under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, we have engaged in comprehensive, multifaceted cooperation in the areas of infrastructure, trade, energy, health, the digital economy, human and cultural exchanges and elsewhere, benefiting the entire African continent. The Forum will hold its summit in Beijing at the beginning of next month. China is ready to work with Africa, and to continue our friendship and cooperation to jointly create a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future. China is also willing to work with international partners to give Africa genuine help in developing and revitalizing itself, supporting it with concrete actions to address historical injustices, promoting a more just and rational new international political and economic order and truly enhancing Africa’s representation, voice and decision-making in the multilateral governance system.

I want to welcome you to the Chamber, Mr. President, and to thank you for your country’s leadership this month. I would also like to begin by thanking Mr. Dennis Francis, President of the General Assembly, Secretary-General António Guterres and Ms. Sithembile Mbete for their insights and briefings today. The United Nations and its Security Council were founded at a time of vastly different political and security realities. The decolonization and dissolution of States since then has led to a significant increase in membership. However, the Security Council has not changed in the past 59 years. A changing world demands a Council that reflects those changes. It cannot remain frozen in time. Given the multitude of conflicts worldwide and their increasing complexity, the international community needs a Council that can respond swiftly, decisively and effectively, making decisions that are complied with. We need a fully legitimate, efficient and relevant Council. All organizations must evolve. They cannot remain static in a dynamic world and should reflect the present, not the past. The demands for Security Council reform are long-standing. The leaders of States and Governments are recognizing that urgent need, and it is more pressing than ever. We have a clear mandate for reform, reinforced by the call in the Declaration on the Commemoration of the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the United Nations for revitalizing the intergovernmental negotiations process, which provides an appropriate framework for those discussions. Its establishment was an important step towards reform, as it offers a platform for every Member State or group to address any reform-related issues. At this point, we would like to acknowledge the progress made in the last two sessions, for which the co-Chairs deserve our commendation. Slovenia agrees that Africa is underrepresented on the Security Council and we hold a positive view of the African Common Position. We should work to achieve a Council where Africa’s voice is not only heard but is integral to shaping policies for tackling challenges to peace and security, globally and regionally. Ensuring that a stronger and more permanent voice from the region is heard is not only a question of correcting historical injustice but a necessity for maintaining the legitimacy, credibility and relevance of the Council itself. We need to move beyond theoretical discussions and deliver tangible progress and concrete results. The interconnectedness of today’s security environment calls for a united response, mobilizing diverse perspectives and expertise. The unique insights and experiences of African countries are indispensable in that regard. The African Union and other regionally led efforts and initiatives for conflict prevention, management and resolution demonstrate Africa’s commitment to regional and global security. To enhance Africa’s voice in global peace and security deliberations, we must also continue strengthening cooperation between the Council and regional organizations, particularly the African Union (AU). The consensus adoptions of resolution 2719 (2023), on financing for African Union-led peace support operations, and resolution 2746 (2024), which recently authorized support from the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Southern African Development Community Mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, together with the joint United Nations-African Union efforts to preserve security gains in Somalia, are good examples of the enhancement of African regional leadership. We look forward to the annual joint consultative meeting between the AU’s Peace and Security Council and members of our Security Council in October. In conclusion, Africa’s underrepresentation on the Security Council not only denies the continent’s pivotal role in shaping global peace and security, but also hinders the ability of the United Nations to address the complex challenges faced by African countries effectively. Slovenia looks forward to continuing the discussions on reform and will remain constructively engaged.

We thank you, Mr. President, and welcome your personal participation in the Security Council’s discussion today on the question of addressing the historical injustice surrounding the participation of African States in the work of the Council. We listened attentively to the briefings from the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly. We are also grateful to Ms. Mbete for her helpful analysis of the situation in terms of addressing the historical injustices done to Africa. The topic is of particular importance to us because the Russian Federation has been one of the most consistent supporters of Security Council reform aimed at ensuring that its membership reflects our multipolar modern world. Our fundamental position on that important issue has remained unchanged since the reform process began in 2009. We unequivocally support an expansion of the Council by exclusively increasing the membership of developing countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America. We see that as a logical and long-overdue step towards addressing the historical injustice that primarily affects the States of the African continent, whose representation on the Council bears no relation either to their numbers or Africa’s current role in international affairs. At the same time, I think we can all agree that a reformed Council must remain effective and authoritative and that its membership should therefore not be excessively broad. Clearly, with between 25 and 30 members it would not be able to effectively fulfil its mandate. In addition, the Council should retain the very effective mechanism that is the right of the veto, laid down by the Organization’s founding States in the Charter of the United Nations. It is that instrument that ensures that the Council takes balanced and realistic decisions that can make a difference in resolving armed conflicts in various regions of the world, including in the interests of Africa. For example, exactly a year ago (see S/PV.9408), Russia’s veto made it possible to prevent the extension of the entirely outdated and counterproductive sanctions on Mali. Unfortunately, in recent years, we have seen a number of our colleagues take an opportunistic approach to the inclusion of new African representation in the Council. A close look at their arguments makes it easy to see that in reality they are more concerned about ensuring that their allies in the NATO bloc are included in the Council’s permanent and non-permanent membership categories than about the countries of the global South. And yet it is quite clear that the Western countries that are firmly committed to acting as a bloc are already significantly overrepresented on the Council. We call on our African colleagues to remain vigilant and not to make the mistake of believing that it is possible to address the historical injustice against Africa while simultaneously allowing new Western members to join the Council. If that injustice is to be addressed, there will have to be a substantial increase in the proportion of African and developing States in general represented compared to that of the former imperial Powers and their allies, which are seeking to maintain their dominant position in world affairs at all costs without any justification. We believe that redressing the historical injustice against Africa should not be limited to Security Council reform. The grim state of affairs is also reflected in other key issues associated with the multilateral world order that are no less significant, and perhaps even more so, in terms of promoting Africa’s core interests. Against the backdrop of their vanishing hegemony, we can clearly see how the countries of the West are acting in the spirit of colonial times, striving to preserve their privileged positions. The legacy of colonialism affects every area of life in African society and is a major obstacle to the continent’s ability to achieve a sustainable role in world affairs. Direct oppression has been replaced by sophisticated forms of neocolonialism, which include, among other things, reinforcing the dependence of African countries’ economies on raw materials, imposing harsh International Monetary Fund programmes and facilitating the brain drain. Those factors further entrench economic underdevelopment, poverty and political instability in African countries. The growing debt burden directly hinders the development of borrower States and often undermines their sovereignty. According to data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Africa’s total debt has increased by 183 per cent over the past 12 years, reaching $1.8 trillion, which is four times higher than the national gross domestic product growth across the continent. And we cannot ignore the issue of mobilizing domestic financing for development, which is critically important for the African continent. Africa loses up to $150 billion annually owing to the extraction of assets, most of which end up in Western countries or jurisdictions under their control. The unlawful restrictive measures currently in place in nine African countries are yet another factor with a negative impact on African development. And the Western countries have no desire to address that injustice and neocolonial discrimination, preferring instead to hold forth about loftier matters. We firmly believe that economic support for developing countries from the countries of the West is not a gesture of goodwill but a moral duty that should be fulfilled in order to redress the injustice of the exploitive colonial system of the past and the international financial system of today. After all, despite the grand statements by Western donors, development assistance remains meagre, below the 0.7 per cent of gross national product required by international commitments. That issue continues to fuel heated debate at the draft negotiations on the Pact for the Future. There is a clear lack of representation of the global South in the managing structures not only of the Bretton Woods institutions but even in the leadership of United Nations development bodies, funds and programmes. It is unacceptable that for decades leadership positions have been held by representatives of a single regional group and that the secretariats of financial institutions have been de facto privatized by the largest donors. We hope that with the assistance of the co-Chairs of the negotiation process, one of which is Namibia, much-needed progress in democratizing the global governance system will be achieved. In the context of the deterioration of the overall humanitarian situation in Africa, the blatant politicization of humanitarian assistance from Western donors is shocking. For example, United Nations humanitarian appeals for many African countries in 2023 were funded to a level between only 20 and 30 per cent, and the same trends can be seen this year. At the same time, for Ukraine, which is a food exporter, the humanitarian appeal has received record funding, above 70 per cent. It is also clear that the amount of money spent on Western military assistance to Ukraine could easily close the gap in most United Nations humanitarian plans for Africa and improve the lives of hundreds of millions of people. However, Western politicians and dealers prefer to supply weapons to hotspots, profiting from people’s grief and suffering. And the situation with international peacebuilding efforts is similar. We note that Western donors provide financial support primarily for projects that are in line with their own priorities, while the urgent needs of African countries for infrastructure and technology are often ignored. Is all of that not a manifestation of historical injustice towards Africa? It is high time to end it and move to a just world order, redressing the artificial imbalance of the past, when most of Africa was still colonized. Some steps have already been made in the right direction, such as the African Union’s recent inclusion in the Group of 20 and the expansion of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa group to accept mainly African countries. That will no doubt open up opportunities for greater consideration of the continent’s priorities in discussions on key global issues in this forum. Returning to the main subject of our meeting, I would like to stress that there are many practical steps that we can take immediately to significantly strengthen the voice of African States in the Council and that do not need to wait for agreements on Council reform. One obvious remnant of the outdated colonial logic in the Council is the continuing distribution of penholderships for country and regional files among former colonial Powers. That has led to a very unfortunate situation in which even though most of the peoples of Africa have gained their independence, their former colonizers continue to keep an eye on them from the Council Chamber. We have been highlighting that ugly situation for years, but all efforts to remedy it have invariably been sabotaged by Western countries. In conclusion, I would like to underscore that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was always a sincere and true friend of Africa, helping African countries to cast off the shackles of colonialism and exploitation and stand firmly on its own feet. Russia pursues the same friendly and constructive policy towards Africa today, and our African friends can therefore always count on our help and support. They can also be sure that we will continue to expose those who are trying to bring new Western members into the Security Council by piggybacking them on African countries, thereby retaining their influence in the Council and the world as a whole in order to continue to exploit African States and hinder their development.

My delegation warmly welcomes and thanks you, Mr. President, for convening today’s important meeting. We also appreciate the insights provided by the Secretary- General, the President of the General Assembly and Ms. Mbete. In 1963, there was a Security Council reform. That was led by a group of countries from Africa and Asia, including Sierra Leone. That Afro-Asian group then noted that, since 1945, 60 new Member States had joined the United Nations, a large number of which were from Africa or Asia. They succeeded in adding four non-permanent seats to the Council. Since 1963, the United Nations membership has increased by 80 States. That includes 31 new Member States from the Asia-Pacific region and 20 from Africa. The Republic of Korea, as a country with vivid memories of colonialism and underdevelopment and a country that belatedly joined the United Nations, deeply sympathizes with Africa’s request for Security Council reform. We wish to once again accomplish the reform, standing shoulder to shoulder with Africa. Given Sierra Leone’s activism on Security Council reform as the Coordinator of the African Union (AU) Committee of Ten, we view this signature event as an exceptional occasion to deepen mutual understanding on that critical issue. As we outline the following points today, we would like to stress that the sense of marginalization and injustice underpinning today’s debate is in fact widely shared by 188 United Nations Member States who have always endured inequality in relation to the permanent five. First, permanent membership is a unique historical product of 1945, yet it enjoys perpetual privileges, including the veto, which is often times detrimental to the Council’s functioning. It is an anachronism in today’s eyes. Imagine the permanent membership more than doubling in the Chamber. The vast majority of the United Nations membership, including the elected members of the Security Council, would inevitably be further marginalized. In addition, increasing permanent members translates into less opportunities for the rest of the United Nations membership to serve on the Council. That can be seen as creating even greater injustice. The Republic of Korea’s consistent and strong reservations about expanding the permanent membership are thus based on the rational and logical conclusion that this antiquated approach needs to be contained, not proliferated. That principled position is irrelevant to our bilateral relations with any of those countries or regions that aspire to a permanent presence on the Council. Secondly, it is our firm belief that expanding solely the non-permanent membership must be the gist of the next reform. Periodic elections are the only means to ensure that the Security Council adapts to the constantly evolving international realities and remains representative. Any fixed composition of new permanent members will serve at best as a still picture or a snapshot of one moment of history. We believe that finding compromise is possible by adjusting specific modalities for elected seats. The Uniting for Consensus group is flexible about that matter, and its proposal of longer-term, re-electable seats deserves positive consideration in that vein. Thirdly, equitable geographical distribution, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, will guide us in allocating the expanded non-permanent seats. The rule is simple: non-permanent seats shall be distributed across five regional groups, in proportion to the respective group’s size. In that connection, my delegation’s constant plea at the intergovernmental negotiations has been to recognize and be mindful of the fact that the Group of Asia-Pacific States is the most underrepresented regional group in the current Security Council, with just two non-permanent seats for 53 Member States to serve on the Council on a rotating basis. The Asia-Pacific region can be best characterized by its unique diversity. Our region lacks any regional decision-making mechanism that spans across the entire region, let alone a unified voice on Security Council reform. However, diversity must not be a reason for less seats on the Security Council, but rather more. Fourthly, we continue to explore the Common African Position with great interest. Africa is indeed a special case. Africa’s unity and advanced regional coordination mechanism enabled Africa to envisage that two permanent seats, rather than permanent members, represent the entire region. The concept of regional permanent seats is inconceivable for other regions such as the Asia-Pacific region. It is our understanding that Africa intends to internally nominate candidates for those seats, without excluding the possibility of regional rotation. In that regard, I would like to remind everyone in the Chamber, that non-permanent seats are, in essence, permanently allocated to regions for rotation. We look forward to further discussions to find and leverage possible common ground between Africa’s idea with regard to permanent seats and the Uniting for Consensus group’s proposal for longer- term, re-electable seats. Supporting African abilities to maintain peace and security goes beyond the composition of the Security Council. With this year marking the twentieth anniversary of the AU Peace and Security Council, we commend Africa’s tireless efforts to reinforce its peace and security architecture. Africa’s growing role in vital areas, such as peacekeeping and climate, peace and security, is a result of Africa’s strong ownership in solving African problems and its political will to share responsibility in the global arena. The Security Council should continue to support those endeavours, including by improving coordination with the Peacebuilding Commission. The Republic of Korea stands ready to actively contribute to sustaining peace and development in Africa. That will build upon the mutually beneficial partnership between Korea and Africa, recently reinforced by the first Korea-Africa Summit in June. In conclusion, we should be reminded, in the light of the upcoming Summit of the Future, that reform of the Security Council pertains to the effectiveness and legitimacy of the whole United Nations system, with a lasting impact on each and every United Nations Member State. In that regard, we look forward to continuing our engagement in the intergovernmental negotiations.

I thank Secretary-General Guterres, President of the General Assembly Francis and Ms. Mbete for their insights. With a growing young population and heterogeneous cultural and historical contexts, Africa plays a key role in driving change in the challenging times of today. As echoed in the New Agenda for Peace, Africa’s aspirations should be supported and facilitated by the international community, including by the Security Council. Those political efforts should also be complemented by the necessary reform of the international financial architecture, currently being addressed in negotiations on the Pact for the Future. That responsibility is necessary to offset the historical underrepresentation of Africa on the Council. As part of the Uniting for Consensus (UFC) group, Malta fully supports Africa’s calls for increased representation. We believe that the UFC model responds to those calls effectively. In the case of an enlargement of the Council of up to 27 Member States, the UFC model would increase seats for the Group of African States from the current three to six elected seats. Some of those seats would also have a longer-term, enabling countries with the capacity and willingness to further contribute to the Council’s work. Malta firmly believes in a Security Council that reflects today’s realities, underpinned by a genuine pursuit of equitable representation. That principle should form an integral part of our discussions today. By expanding the elected seat category for Africa, we would witness a 100 per cent increase in its representation. Allow me to recall recent achievements, led by our elected African partners on the Security Council, which reflect the Council’s effectiveness and democracy. The landmark resolution 2719 (2023) on United Nations-assessed contributions for African Union-led peace support operations, facilitated by last year’s configuration of the three African members of the Security Council  — Ghana, Gabon and Mozambique — is one such example. By recognizing the complementarity of regional configurations to security in Africa, we are inherently recognizing the significant contributions of African countries to peacekeeping. Through effective co-penholderships, particularly those related to African files on the Council’s agenda, Council members have been able to adopt important products. We welcome the recent adoptions of the presidential statement on the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (S/PRST/2024/3), co-penned by Sierra Leone and Switzerland, and resolution 2746 (2024) authorizing the support of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, co-penned by France and Sierra Leone. Jointly with some of our African partners on the Council, we have also worked to ensure the implementation of the shared commitments on women and peace and security. That includes advancing language on the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women in discussions and products, with the Informal Expert Group on Women and Peace and Security contributing significantly to that effect. Similar approaches have been invested in addressing the climate-related risks to peace and security through the joint pledges related to climate, peace and security and the Informal Expert Group on Climate and Security. Every time the Council fails to act on the most delicate and urgent matters, often as a result of the pervasive use of the veto, the international community is failing in its responsibility to maintain peace and security. Malta continues to support efforts to curtail the veto’s use in the Council, especially when it considers the gravest crimes of concern to the international community. Any additional discussions on Security Council reform must continue to take place within the intergovernmental negotiations. In conclusion, let us collectively infuse the Council with credibility and prosperity for generations to come. Our aspirations are with Africa’s. Just as we share multiple interests and concerns, so too must we share a common approach to finding solutions.

I thank the speakers for their briefings. This timely meeting, as we see from its unfolding, is only one sliver of what could be said and should be done to fill a vacuum that exists in the Security Council and in the institutions of global governance due to the underrepresentation of Africa and other regions of the world. My delegation is therefore grateful to Sierra Leone for the opportunity to discuss the issue in the Chamber. Due to its demographic, economic, social and cultural growth, the African continent is a key player in strengthening the United Nations and multilateralism, as well as a driving force for global development, as set forth in the document entitled “Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want”. In recent decades, African countries have contributed to the formulation of effective responses to threats and breaches of international peace and security, most notably through the decisions of the African Union Peace and Security Council associated with the position of the three African members of the Security Council. Indeed, that informal caucus originating in the institutionality of the African Union has made it possible to enhance its impact, which has led to management results that transcend African issues, as illustrated in Kenya’s recent leadership in the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti or in the traditional and invaluable African contributions to peacekeeping operations worldwide. Ecuador is convinced that Africa has the right to equal participation in the global governance architecture, which implies reform  — not only of the Security Council, but also of the institutions of the international financial architecture derived from Bretton Woods — bearing in mind that the multilateral system was designed in the 1940s and that most of Africa was still under colonial rule. It is worth noting, in that context, that only four African States participated in the San Francisco Conference that gave birth to the United Nations. Today there are many more participating African States. It is clear that the composition of the Security Council is not representative of the current reality. To support that assertion, we could present arguments that we have made in other forums; but suffice it to note that the population of the nations of the global South comprises more than two thirds of the United Nations membership, while on the Council, its representation is under 8 per cent, which undermines its legitimacy. Similarly, the nature of global threats and the definition of international security has changed since 1945. The Security Council must adapt to new and evolving challenges such as pandemics, conflicts between non-State actors, international terrorism and transnational organized crime. Such threats can be resolved only by an institution that represents the interests and perspectives of all humankind, not just those of the great Powers. During the forty-third plenary meeting of the first session of the General Assembly, held on 30 October 1946, Mr. Francisco Illescas Barreiro, Head of the Ecuadorian delegation, reiterated the position that had been expressed during the San Francisco Conference in the following terms, “It is essential, therefore, that, in the process of perfecting the United Nations Charter, the Security Council should be made more democratic in so logical and legitimate a manner that in due course all its members will be elected by a free vote. In this way, the sovereign equality of States will be fully restored, and the reign of justice dispensed equally throughout the world.” (A/PV.43, p.861) It was also at the San Francisco Conference that Ecuador, like many Latin American countries, did not vote to approve the so-called right of veto in the Charter of the United Nations because it was born with the original sin of secrecy. That is the long-standing principle of my country’s foreign policy. I therefore conclude by asserting that my delegation will continue to support a concerted and ambitious reform of the Security Council, particularly in the appropriate forum, which is the Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security Council. Ecuador believes that Security Council reform is possible only through a realistic and flexible approach limited to an ethical model of democracy, based on the principles of the rotation of powers and accountability, appropriate to the reality and diversity of the contemporary world, without new vetoes or privileges in perpetuity, that addresses the historical debt to Africa and other regions of the world.

Please accept my delegation’s appreciation, Mr. President, for convening this debate on a subject of long-standing concern to Guyana. I also thank Secretary-General António Guterres and the President of the General Assembly, Dennis Francis, as well as Ms. Sithembile Mbete for their insightful perspectives. The matter of Africa’s underrepresentation on the Security Council and addressing this historical injustice continue to feature prominently in discussions concerning the reform of the organ. Guyana therefore seizes this historic moment today to thank you, Mr. President, for extending that debate to the Council table today. As members of the Council, we are uniquely positioned to proffer perspectives on this subject since we are intimately acquainted with the impacts of Africa’s underrepresentation on the Council. In that regard, I take this opportunity to reaffirm Guyana’s support for the common African position, as expressed in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. We support the expansion of African representation in the non-permanent category of membership and Africa’s aspiration to permanent membership as part of a broader reform of the Security Council that also addresses the deficit in permanent membership from other regions, including my own, the Latin American and Caribbean region. Indeed, the role and power of the Security Council and its current membership is perhaps the greatest of all international paradoxes in a rules-based system. On the one hand, the Council is the only United Nations organ whose decisions and resolutions are binding on all States Members of the United Nations. On the other hand, it is the most unrepresentative and undemocratic, unfit for purpose in this century. Against that backdrop, allow me to put forward a few points for reflection. First, Guyana’s engagement on the Council over the past several months has served to reinforce to us the primacy of politics in decision-making, sometimes trumping principle on extremely critical issues. We must consider how that affects the interests of affected countries, particularly those in the throes of conflict and war. Underrepresented regions such as Africa, concerning which a comparatively higher number of items feature on the Council’s agenda, are therefore at a disadvantage, as that translates into underrepresentation in decision-making on matters that are of direct interest to the region. Even in instances where the strength of Africa’s advocacy is enhanced through a coordinated approach in such mechanisms as the three African members of the Security Council plus, that can easily be countered by the use of the veto in a manner that is contrary to the interests of the country or region concerned. That brings me to my second point, which concerns the use of the veto. In discussions on the reform of the Security Council, some advocate expanded permanent membership, but without the veto privilege. Guyana does not support that proposition because it advocates the creation of hierarchies of members in the permanent category. Moreover, it will perpetuate the injustice, which is the subject of our discussion today, by restricting the prerogatives of new permanent members, including from Africa. While we firmly support the abolition of the veto itself, Guyana contends that, as long as it continues to exist, all new permanent members should have the prerogative of its use. To do otherwise would also perpetuate the existing imbalance on the Council — the imbalance that we are trying to fix. Nevertheless, the use of the veto has to be curtailed. It should never be used to paralyse the Council in cases of mass atrocities, such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, when the expectation of Council action is great, given its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. We have extant examples of how effective Council action is stymied when civilians are in extreme circumstances and desperately need the Council’s intervention to survive. My third point is therefore about the privilege of power inherent in permanent membership. That privilege does not exist in silos but comes with attendant responsibility. The Charter clearly provides that the Council is acting on behalf of all Members of the United Nations when carrying out its duties related to the maintenance of international peace and security. Attending to the interests of the wider membership on peace and security issues is therefore a legitimate expectation, and indeed a responsibility of the Council, especially when there is broad consensus for the Council to take decisions of a particular nature on specific issues. By way of example, I cite the case of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Council’s relevance is at risk of being eroded when the privilege of power is weaponized against the very people that it is supposed to defend and protect. The Council’s relevance is also at risk when the privilege of power restricts the enforcement of decisions. For that reason, justified accusations of impotence continue to be levelled at the Council. Those countries that enjoy that privilege and those that aspire to permanent membership with all its prerogatives must be seized of that perspective and commit to not weaponizing the privilege of power to pursue narrow self-interests, including in situations where the principle of the responsibility to protect must guide Council action. My fourth and final point concerns accountability. While the Charter is clear that the Council acts on behalf of all Member States, Guyana is of the view that elected members of the Council demonstrate a greater sense of responsibility to their constituents, that is, to the General Assembly that elected them and their home populations that support them. That sense of responsibility is often the driving force behind the actions taken by elected members, including the greater involvement of countries that are not Council members in the work of the Council. I am therefore hopeful that the election of new permanent members to the Council will translate into an increased sense of responsibility and accountability and to more actions driven by that. As with most difficult questions on the United Nations agenda, the requisite political will can facilitate the early and long-overdue reform of the Council that is needed to bring it into line with the current composition of the United Nations membership, making it better fit for purpose. We must muster the political will now or face the prospect of the only lawmaking organ of the United Nations losing both its credibility and its legitimacy and risking greater global instability. Addressing the historical injustice against Africa is central in that regard.

Allow me, first of all, to say — as the representative of a relatively small country, a young Member of the United Nations in its first term on the Security Council, but also one with a rich history of cooperation spanning more than four decades on the African continent — what an honour it is to be able to speak about the history and underrepresentation of Africa on the Council. I thank you, Mr. President, for this humbling opportunity. I would also like to thank our Secretary-General who, both in his remarks today and in his New Agenda for Peace, makes a clear plea for reform of the Council, and the President of the General Assembly and Ms. Mbete for their enlightening remarks. Indeed, when 50 countries met in San Francisco in the spring of 1945 to negotiate our Charter, there were only four African countries among them, as we already heard. And yet Liberia’s head of delegation, Clarence Lorenzo Simpson, said something that remains important for countries like mine to this day: “for not possessing the means to wage war, the dreams and hopes of small nations are only of world peace and the security of their rights and independence”. As for Simpson’s third dream and hope, independence, the Charter includes Articles on self- determination in Chapters XI, XII and XIII, and the United Nations has been able to support many African countries on their road to independence. Today not only are there 54 African Members of the United Nations, but the richness and diversity of their contributions is omnipresent and indispensable to the United Nations  — from contingents of peacekeepers and unique examples of conflict prevention and resolution, often at the local level, to innovative ways of increasing sustainability. By 2050, 40 per cent of the world’s young people will be living on the African continent. Young Africans will therefore play a key role in shaping the world’s future. If the Security Council is to remain credible, relevant and forward-looking, it must evolve with that world of tomorrow and offer better representation to the African continent, which has been underrepresented for so long, despite the strong presence of African contexts in the Council’s decisions and discussions. Switzerland supports the commitment of African countries to play their rightful role on the world stage. Security Council reform is a necessary and urgent step towards making the Council more representative, more accountable and more effective. With regard to Simpson’s second dream and hope, the guarantee of our rights, we have seen — with the adoption of the Charter and a multitude of instruments of international and humanitarian law — great progress within the international community. And yet today the peoples of the United Nations are confronted with the greatest number of conflicts, violence, deaths, injuries and displacement — indeed, they are confronted with a shocking dehumanization. Even the best reforms will not bring greater peace and security to the world if the Charter of the United Nations, international law and international humanitarian law are not respected, or are even systematically flouted. All Member States have an obligation and a responsibility not only to respect the Charter, but also to implement the resolutions of the Council. The Security Council, for its part, must act in good faith on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations. That requires a relentless pursuit of peace, based on international law and systematic dialogue with the States directly concerned. The Council’s working methods are essential to strengthening its accountability, coherence and transparency, and consequently the legitimacy and implementation of its decisions. That is why Switzerland believes that improving them remains a priority. And improving methods implies restricting the use of the veto, as proposed by the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency group’s code of conduct, through which 130 countries have pledged not to vote against resolutions in the case of genocide, war crimes or mass atrocities — crimes that have severely affected the African continent throughout its history. Let us finally realize the first dream and hope of the head of the Liberian delegation in San Francisco — the aspiration for global peace. That is the fundamental task of this organ, the Security Council. I think we can all agree that it is not fulfilling it — certainly not enough, and not well enough. Not only is greater representation of African States on the Council imperative, but it also means ensuring that its work is based more on regional and local expertise. For example, the Council can learn from the successes of the Peacebuilding Commission in various African contexts, but also from excellent African initiatives such as the Panel of the Wise, the WiseYouth Network and FemWise. We must support those instruments of preventive diplomacy and make greater use of them. I particularly want to underline the important role that African women mediators can play in conflict resolution, both on the continent and elsewhere in the world. In the same vein, Switzerland encourages intensified exchanges between the Council and the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, with the aim of increasing our mutual understanding and our actions’ coherence. The annual exchanges between the two Councils enable us to tackle peace and security issues together, based on a regional approach and a global vision. I will therefore be delighted to be able to welcome the Peace and Security Council of the African Union in October, under the Swiss presidency of our Security Council, for in-depth discussions on issues such as the role of young people, the implementation of resolution 2719 (2023) on peace operations, and climate and security. In his New Agenda for Peace, the Secretary- General defines three key factors  — trust, solidarity and universality. African contributions will continue to be essential to guaranteeing them and thereby strengthening the maintenance of international peace and security. The Pact for the Future offers us an opportunity to call in unison for a more representative, effective and accountable Security Council. Allow me to conclude with an African saying — when the music changes, so does the dance. It is high time that the Council adapted to the music of the twenty-first century.

I give the floor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Uganda.

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Uganda, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you, Mr. President, on Sierra Leone’s assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for the month of August. I want to thank you for inviting His Excellency Mr. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of Uganda, who was unable to participate in this important debate on maintenance of international peace and security  — addressing the historical injustice and enhancing Africa’s effective representation on the Security Council  — owing to other State engagements. I would also like to thank the three African members of the Security Council and the leadership of the Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone for ably steering the African Committee of Ten Heads of State over the years and for their strong commitment to advancing the Common African Position on Security Council reform. History is clear that for centuries, even before the start of the Second World War or the founding in 1945 of the United Nations, Africa has been a relatively significant actor in global affairs. Africa is known for being both the cradle of civilization and the cradle of life, millions of years ago. During colonial times, the continent of Africa fed the industrial revolution in Europe with resources, raw materials and human labour, which propelled the development of the North and laid the foundation for the modern world that we see today. Since the spread of independence in Africa, the continent has continued to provide the world with much-needed resources, including rare minerals that are found nowhere else on Earth. Africa continues to be the market of the world, with global manufacturers and producers looking at her immense commercial potential. Today Africa is a leading contributor to United Nations peacekeeping operations, playing a critical role in the promotion of international peace and security. But in spite of that, Africa has been unjustly excluded from positions of power and influence on the Security Council, the main organ responsible for international peace and security, while it dominates the Council’s agenda with an inordinate number of conflicts. Africa is still being treated unfairly and unequally in the multilateral space to this day. It continues to suffer unfairness in the international trade and financial architecture and unfairness where issues related to climate change are concerned, suffering the greatest consequences in spite of the fact that it is the world’s lowest emitter of greenhouse gases. Africa continues to be denied opportunities owing to unfair immigration policies and gets less value for its resources, owing to unfair exploitation by international capitalists. Amid all those injustices, historic and current, Africa has no platform where its voice can be heard authoritatively and listened to as an equal partner and important global contributor. A stronger presence on the Security Council would offer Africa that much- needed platform for engagement with the international community as an equal and significant partner. The walls of this Chamber have heard that call from Africa for a long time. It is high time that it was responded to through reform of the Security Council. Africa therefore reiterates its call for full reform of the Council in order to address the historical injustice and the urgent need to rectify it by having Africa represented in both its permanent and non-permanent membership categories. Africa is ready to work tirelessly with peace-loving nations to build inclusive, just, democratic and free systems that align with a multipolar world on equal terms. The African Union Committee of Ten, under the leadership of the Republic of Sierra Leone, has been pursuing the mandate to promote, advocate and canvass for support for the Common African Position on reform of the Security Council, as stipulated in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. Africa’s position demands two permanent and two additional non-permanent seats on the Security Council. The Committee of Ten is driven by the hope of and belief in sovereign equality in representation and participation in intergovernmental negotiations for reform of the Security Council, to achieve a future of shared goals for humankind. Africa’s core aspiration is to obtain representation on the Security Council as an equal partner and to make a contribution to a multilateral system that can become inclusive and work for the interests of all. Looking at the current configuration of the Security Council, Africa is very underrepresented. In the permanent member category, Africa has no seat, Europe has three, the Americas have one and Asia has one. In the non-permanent member category, Africa has three seats, Europe has three, the Americas have two and Asia has two. Yet today Africa boasts of 54 Member States, representing 28 per cent of the United Nations membership. Furthermore, Africa is a continent with immense potential in terms of available arable land, critical minerals to drive the digital revolution, market capabilities and a rapidly growing population, and it is poised for economic prowess. Therefore, Africa indeed must be enabled to make its contribution to the world, and therefore should be granted its rightful place in the global institutions, including the Security Council. The Group of African States has endeavoured to build extensive support within the intergovernmental negotiations process for the enlargement of both the permanent and non-permanent member categories and for the inclusion of the proposal in the intergovernmental negotiations input in the upcoming Summit of the Future  — a Pact for the Future. Today, at this high- level debate, we have the opportunity to bring this matter to the Council, fully aware of Africa’s growing role in peacekeeping and conflict resolution and its contribution to global security. Africa fully supports the intergovernmental negotiations process for Security Council reform. We, however, note with concern that the process is not moving forward at a desirable pace. It is taking too long to conclude, with a multiplicity of diverse interests. It is in the interest of the international community that the process of Security Council reform be taken to its full conclusion. Uganda supports comprehensive reform of the Security Council without any further delay to address the long-standing injustice and imbalance. A just and balanced Security Council will play a very important role in the maintenance of international peace and stability. International peace and security is better served when all stakeholders are able to participate. For that to happen, the current arrangement is insufficient and begs the question of equitable representation and an increase in the membership of the Security Council. A reformed Security Council with equitable representation will enable the Council’s legitimacy, effectiveness and credibility to be improved. I therefore wish to implore the members of the Security Council to take an interest in and closer look at the historical injustices that Africa has been subjected to. In the same vein, I urge the Council to recognize the contribution that Africa has made and continues to make, towards international peace and security, as well as towards the prosperity of humankind. I invite the members of the Security Council to take the opportunity to act in unison and enable a meaningful reform of the Council, a reform that we have been engaged in negotiating for several decades. As I conclude, I would like to reiterate Uganda’s support for the Common African Position and add my country’s voice once again to the demand for Africa’s representation on the Security Council.

I now give the floor to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of Namibia.

In convening today’s meeting, Sierra Leone has demonstrated the zeal to remove the thorn that for many decades has inflicted pain in Africa’s flesh, a pain underpinned by exclusion, disregard and marginalization. My delegation commends your wisdom, Mr. President, to drive the transformation of global institutions in the right direction. Namibia appreciates the instrumental role played by the Government of Sierra Leone and specifically by Your Excellency, Mr. President, as the Coordinator of the African Union Committee of Ten, in bringing this discussion to the Council and reminding the Council of this opportune moment to chart a path that will strengthen its ability to enhance its capacity to effectively deliver on its mandate of maintaining international peace and security. Namibian leaders, including my mentor, the illustrious Theo-Ben Gurirab, who served as the fifty- fourth President of the General Assembly, have long been advocating reform of that instrumental organ of the United Nations in order for it to be more representative, inclusive and reflective of the world it serves. It is on their shoulders that I stand today to continue advancing our conviction that the time to adjust the composition of the Council to be fit for present day realities is long overdue. Namibia had first-hand experience of the inadequacies of the Security Council when it had to battle for years for equal and just consideration of its plight against the vagaries of apartheid, colonialism and injustice. However, in the end, the Council came to recognize and support our struggle for freedom and independence. Thus, we can today hold the strong belief in the invaluable role the Council can and must play in the promotion of international peace and security. This debate takes place at a time when Africa continues to unambiguously assert that it cannot continue to stand as a passive spectator in the global political field. Imagine the whole continent relegated to the periphery of decision-making and emasculated by a disproportionate geopolitical power distribution. By maintaining the status quo, democratic global governance remains elusive and contradicts the most fundamental principles upon which the United Nations is founded. That is undesirable and impedes our efforts to find a solution that garners the widest possible political acceptance by Member States, taking into consideration the five clusters of reform. Africa appreciates the growing support for the Common African Position and desires more than an acknowledgement that its aspirations are legitimate. With a vast segment of the Security Council’s agenda pertaining to Africa, it is imperative that the issue of Africa not being represented in the permanent category of the Council be urgently addressed. Additionally, Africa’s demand for two additional non-permanent seats supports its quest for equitable representation on the Security Council and acknowledges the historical injustice to the continent. The demand is best elucidated in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, which jointly comprise the Common African Position on Security Council reform. The call for a Council that reflects present-day realities is a march for progress in the world and not a request for a favour to the African continent. Yes, ours is a voice of reason signifying a legitimate plea for justice and advocacy for equality. In its pursuit of advancing discussions on the reform of the Council, Namibia aligns with the African position that all prerogatives and privileges of permanent membership must be extended to all new members of the permanent category of the Security Council as a matter of common justice. Africa will continue to advocate reform of the United Nations and other international institutions, particularly the Security Council, to correct the historical injustice done to a great continent. We cannot keep postponing the fulfilment of the desires of our people who seek to be seen and heard. Equitable geographic representation is an affirmed long-standing commitment of the United Nations. It is time that the extensive resources that have been invested in Security Council reform bear fruit. Tangible steps should be taken to advance the Council’s legitimacy, credibility and effectiveness. It would be remiss of me not to emphasize the patience Africa has exercised thus far. That patience does not mean acquiescence. However, over time, that is bound to diminish. Africa has a growing youth demographic whose degree of patience is minimal, particularly when their dreams of hope are shattered by the expedient tortoise pace at which the Security Council reform has been addressed. Cracks in the monolith that symbolizes the values of democratic governance are inevitable. Demands are likely to persist for prudent and expeditious action to ensure equitable representation across governance structures and institutions. Let me conclude by stating that the reform of the Security Council remains a matter of high importance, not only to my delegation or the African people, but to all members of the world community. Let the Council restore trust in its relevance by doing what is just. Let us end the injustice against Africa’s exclusion; and let us deliver a Council that truly serves humankind equitably and without discrimination.

There are still a number of speakers remaining on the list for this meeting. Given the lateness of the hour, I intend, with the concurrence of the members of the Council, to suspend the meeting until 3 p.m.