Kampala(Mogadishu24)-United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday criticized the lack of African representation in the UN Security Council, stressing that current-day institutions “must reflect today’s world.”

“How can we accept that Africa still lacks a single Permanent Member in the Security Council?” the UN chief said on Saturday in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“Institutions must reflect today’s world, not that of 80 years ago,” Guterres stressed on X.

He concluded the post by saying that the UN General Assembly Summit of the Future held this year on 22-23 September could provide “an opportunity to consider global governance reforms and re-build trust.”

Guterres’s remarks come amid a renewed call for more equal and fair representation for less developed countries in international institutions.

The UK last year announced its backing for an expanded UN Security Council, including a permanent spot for Africa, to reflect the current and future state of the world.

“We want to see permanent African representation and membership extended to India, Brazil, Germany and Japan,” said (then) Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.

Along the same lines, US President Joe Biden has previously signaled his support for an expanded UN Security Council with African representation, and giving the African Union a permanent spot in the G20.

He has also outlined his backing for a permanent seat for Latin America, and supported bids from Japan and India.

Developing nations have long complained about not having a say on the council, where the five permanent members wield veto power, and argued the imbalance risked making the body obsolete.

But so far, repeated calls for reform have come to nothing, and experts doubt that the permanent five will give up their powers, despite the persuasive argument for change.

According to the 2005 Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration, African states should have at least two permanent seats and five non-permanent Security Council seats chosen by the African Union.

Source: Agency