'Reform or rupture': UN chief Antonio Guterres gives clarion call to reform Security Council 'in line with the world of today'
Antonio Guterres on Tuesday gave a clarion call to reform the UN Security Council «in line with the world of today» and based on equity, telling leaders that the 15-nation body reflects the political and economic realities of 1945 and risks becoming part of the problem instead of solving it.
«Our world is becoming unhinged. Geopolitical tensions are rising.
Global challenges are mounting. And we seem incapable of coming together to respond,» Guterres told world leaders in his address to the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
Addressing the world from the iconic green podium in the UNGA hall, Guterres said the world confronts a host of existential threats — from the climate crisis to disruptive technologies — and «we do so at a time of chaotic transition.
He emphasised that a multipolar world needs strong and effective multilateral institutions, yet global governance is stuck in time.
»Look no further than the United Nations Security Council and the Bretton Woods system.
They reflect the political and economic realities of 1945 when many countries in this Assembly Hall were still under colonial domination. The world has changed.
Our institutions have not," he said.
The UN chief underscored that «we cannot effectively address problems as they are if institutions don't reflect the world as it is. Instead of solving problems, they risk becoming part of the problem.»
He asserted that it is high time to renew multilateral institutions based on 21st century economic and political realities — rooted in equity, solidarity and universality — anchored in the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law.
«That means reforming the Security Council in line with the world of today,» he said.
«It means
