The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, marked the organization’s 80th anniversary this Friday with an appeal for peace, but also for the reform of the Security Council, insisting on African representation and limitations on the veto.
Guterres, who is on a trip to Vietnam, spoke virtually at a special meeting of the UN Security Council focused on the 80th anniversary of the multilateral organization and called: “The United Nations: Looking to the Future”.
In a speech aimed at the Security Council – the most powerful body in the UN, whose decisions are binding -, António Guterres recalled the spring of 1946, when the first Security Council ballot box was opened for inspection before voting. To everyone’s surprise, there was already a piece of paper inside, he said, referring to a message from the box’s manufacturer — a local New York mechanic named Paul Antonio.
“He wrote: ‘May I, who had the privilege of making this ballot box, cast the first vote? May God be with all the members of the UN and, through their noble efforts, bring lasting peace to all of us, throughout the world’. This humble note reminds us why the Security Council exists: for the people,” said the UN leader.
The former Portuguese prime minister recalled that, throughout its 80-year history, the Security Council managed to fulfill its task on many occasions, such as when it helped Cambodia emerge from genocide and South Africa from ‘apartheid’, sent missions that helped bring peace to Sierra Leone, East Timor, Liberia and other places, and built a lasting global structure against terrorism.
“Above all, they gave us 80 years without the chaos of a war between great powers. The Council is a vital necessity and a powerful force for good. But at the same time, its legitimacy is fragile,” noted the Secretary-General.
Too often, he noted, members of the Security Council have acted outside the principles of the UN Founding Charter.
Although Guterres did not give concrete examples, Russia – a permanent member of the Council – is the most recent example of a country in violation of the UN Charter with its invasion of Ukraine. “When this happens, (…) it erodes trust in the entire UN project and puts us all in great danger”, he lamented. The United Nations leader considered the reform of the Security Council to be imperative, defending expansion.
Guterres recalled that almost half of all UN peacekeeping missions take place in Africa. However, the continent does not have a permanent voice on the Security Council.
The secretary general, who ends his second and final term in 2026, also warned about the underrepresentation of Latin America and the Caribbean, while the Asia-Pacific region — where more than half of humanity lives — only has one permanent place. “Expanding the number of members is not just about justice, it is also about results. It has the potential to break deadlocks and offer stability in our increasingly multipolar world”, he insisted.
Guterres also encouraged the 15 Member States to examine proposals from France and the United Kingdom to limit the exercise of the veto.
Often considered obsolete, the UN Security Council has been a main target of calls for reform and expansion for decades, with emerging countries such as India, South Africa and Brazil seeking to join the five permanent members.
In general, almost all UN countries consider it necessary to reform the Security Council, but there is no agreement on how to do so, with different proposals on the table for years, some of which include permanent African representation on the Council.
Over the years, the veto power has been one of the most controversial issues and the target of several requests for modification. This has, in fact, been the mechanism used by Russia to prevent the Security Council from acting against it in the face of the ongoing war in Ukraine and used by the United States to stop resolutions against its ally Israel.
“The Security Council is not about hegemonies and empires. (…) In every shadow of this Chamber, you are surrounded by the ghosts of the dead. But, next to them, there is something else — the hopes of the living”, Guterres told the diplomatic corps present at the debate.
This Friday’s event, called by Russia, was attended by dozens of Member States, including Portugal. At the beginning of the meeting, Russia, which presides over the Security Council this month, read a declaration approved by the 15 Member States and in which they reinforced the purpose of saving future generations from the scourge of war.
The UN celebrates 80 years while facing a serious multidimensional crisis, with its influence and budget at risk. Despite António Guterres’ efforts to convince the world that the UN is more vital today than ever, the organization founded after the Second World War currently has its influence discredited and its full functioning at risk due to funding cuts from nations such as the United States, the country that hosts the institution’s headquarters in New York, and its largest donor.
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