UNGA President calls for reform of Security Council to prevent stalemate

Dennis Francis, the president of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), said that the need for UN Security Council reform has become more pressing than ever in a globe cast by the unrest in Gaza and Ukraine.

Francis expressed his strong belief that the council’s credibility and efficacy will gradually decline in the absence of significant structural change during the assembly’s yearly discussion of the UN’s principal platform for peace and security on Thursday, according to Xinhua news agency.

“War and violence are still spreading throughout the world, and the Security Council’s disagreements appear to be the main cause of the UN’s paralysis,” the speaker said.

He claimed that because of how swiftly the world is changing, the council is “dangerously falling short” of its responsibility to serve as the principal guarantor of global peace and security. “Absent structural reform, its performance and legitimacy will inevitably continue to suffer, and so too, the credibility and relevance of the UN itself,” he continued.

Although the issue of fair representation has been on the assembly’s agenda since 1979, the UNGA president emphasized that requests for change have increased in light of the global upsurge in violence.

Expanding the membership of the council was one of the frequent topics of discussion from the platform during September’s annual high-level debate.

This urgency has been emphasized even further by recent crises and the Security Council’s failure to reach a consensus on a single stance, such as those involving Israel and Palestine and the Ukraine.

On Wednesday, the Security Council adopted its first resolution on the Israel-Palestine conflict since it broke out on October 7.

Francis continued his statement by cautioning the gathering that coping with disorder may sometimes be just as difficult as experiencing deadlock on the Security Council.

“I warn this august house that turmoil may be a powerful enemy, just as stillness can be. He urged new, creative thinking on changes, saying, “We cannot usefully perpetuate positions that, while familiar, fail to bring us closer together.”

“Strengthening solidarity and conciliation is one way we can repair trust,” Francis said, emphasizing the significance of the Summit of the Future the next year.

He urged member nations to “grasp this opportunity” to challenge entrenched viewpoints and advance Security Council reform by taking doable actions that enhance efficacy and accurately reflect the world as it is now.