Kenyan President William Ruto has called for reforms to the United Nations Security Council, urging the inclusion of permanent African representation on the powerful UN body.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, Ruto highlighted Africa’s significant representation in the wider UN membership but noted that the continent has no permanent seat on the Security Council.
“Africa has 54 member states, more than a quarter of this assembly, yet no permanent voice in the body entrusted with the primary responsibility for international peace and security,” Ruto said.
“We are frequently the subject of its decisions, permanently discussed, yet permanently excluded.”
Ruto said the Security Council should reflect changes in the global political landscape, arguing that the body no longer represents the world as it does today.
“At a moment when most Africans had neither a nation at the table, nor a voice in shaping the institutions that it would govern the peace. The world, ladies and gentlemen, has since transformed. The Council, the Security Council, has not.”
The Kenyan president’s remarks come as the African Union continues to push for greater representation and influence at the United Nations.
South Africa’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, Ambassador Mxolisi Sizo Nkosi, also said ahead of the General Assembly that Security Council reform remains an important part of South Africa’s agenda.
Ruto’s call also echoed remarks made a day earlier by outgoing UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
In his address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Guterres said, “a 21st century Security Council without permanent African representation is unjust and indefensible.”
