UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has renewed calls for reform of the United Nations Security Council, saying Africa’s continued lack of a permanent seat is no longer defensible.
Guterres made the remarks on Tuesday, September 22, while addressing the opening of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, in what was his final General Assembly opening address as secretary-general. His term ends on December 31, 2026.
“The Security Council was designed in the aftermath of World War II. But the world has fundamentally changed since then,” Guterres told world leaders.
He pointed specifically to Africa, noting that most of the continent was still under colonial rule when the United Nations was created in 1945.
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“Today, Africa still has no permanent representation on the Council,” he said. “A 21st century Security Council without permanent African seats is unjust and indefensible. This must change.”
Guterres’s remarks come amid renewed international discussions over reforming the Security Council, whose permanent membership remains limited to China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The African Union has long called for greater representation on the UN most powerful organ, including permanent seats for African countries under the Common African Position outlined in the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration.
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Beyond Security Council reform, Guterres used his address to warn that the world is facing four major “tests of power”: war and peace, inequality, climate change and artificial intelligence.
“The faultlines in our world are widening. Cracks have become canyons,” he said, pointing to conflicts and growing divisions across the world.
He also called for stronger international governance of artificial intelligence, warning that decisions involving life and death should not be handed over to machines.
His final General Assembly address comes as the UN prepares for a leadership transition, with seven candidates now in the race to succeed him.
These are Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan, Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Ecuador’s María Fernanda Espinosa and Ivonne A-Baki alongside Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Uganda’s Olara Otunnu and Senegal’s Macky Sall.
The race has particular significance for gender representation, as no woman has ever served as UN secretary-general in the organisation’s more than 80-year history.
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