UN Organization
Security Council reform at UNGA 81
Raised by 122 of 223 speakers. Read verbatim UN transcript quotes and select a time to hear the speech.
Speeches that raised security council reform
Kenya · Day 2William Samoei RutoOn peace and security, the contradiction is increasingly difficult to ignore.
Every nation in this hall has one vote.
Every nation is sovereign and equal under the Charter.
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Latvia · Day 2Edgars RinkēvičsLet us not look away.
Russia is a permanent member of Security Council.
With that comes a special responsibility for international peace and security.
3passages
Central African Republic · Day 2Faustin Archange TouaderaHowever far they may be from the front line, no state is safe from the repercussions of these conflicts.
At the same time, divisions within the Security Council, the body charged with protecting international peace and security, are paralyzing action where it is the most urgently needed.
International law is supposed to protect the weak from the ambitions of the powerful, yet it is increasingly being dismissed as optional.
3passages
Serbia · Day 2Aleksandar VučićDo you know which countries, dear friends, took part in decision making in the UN Security Council to bomb an independent and sovereign country that had attacked no other country?
Just to add, not a single soldier, not a single police officer from Serbia had set foot on the territory of any other country and yet the decision was made.
I am certain that most of you, dear friends, who are among those best informed about world politics, no longer remember much of this either, and especially not the fact of who in the UNSC voted for that decision, or perhaps in the General Assembly.
3passages
Paraguay · Day 2Santiago Peña PalaciosAnd the admirable theme of this Assembly calls for a United Nations for all.
An admirable theme, certainly, but I fear that it's not enough.
So I ask you today, respectfully but firmly, how can we have a United Nations for all when it is led by a Security Council of the few?
2passages
Estonia · Day 2Alar KarisAllow me to take this opportunity to commend and express our gratitude to our current Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, for his steadfast commitment to the principles of the UN Charter, including his support for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
With regard to the Security Council, it must be said that its inability to take timely and decisive decisions on some of the worst crises we are seeing today risks rendering the United Nations irrelevant.
We have not seen unified and decisive Council action on Ukraine, Sudan or in Myanmar.
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Libya · Day 2Mohamed Younis MenfiLadies and gentlemen, a Libya that regains its sovereignty and the unity of its institutions will not be a gain for Libyans alone.
It will be a force for stability in the Arab world, a source of strategic depth for security and development in Africa, a responsible partner in the Mediterranean, and a bridge for cooperation between North and South.
From this rostrum, Libya announces its candidacy for the membership of the Security Council for the term 2028-2029 for the African seat.
2passages
Botswana · Day 2Duma Gideon BokoBotswana remains committed to further deepening its cooperation with UNOCT and the wider United Nations system through capacity building, technical assistance, knowledge sharing and the exchange of good practices.
Such partnerships demonstrate that a responsive United Nations can build trust strengthen national capacity, and foster peace and security.
Mr. President, no reform agenda, including UN80, is complete without addressing the longstanding inequities within the Security Council.
2passages
Poland · Day 2Karol NawrockiAt the very moment the foundations of the UN were being laid, my nation, a victim of two totalitarian regimes, was under the domination of one of them, Soviet Russia, and after several years of devastating occupation of the other, Germany.
Thousands of Polish heroes who fought for the freedom of Europe and the entire world were at that time imprisoned, tortured, and sentenced to death.
The UN already existed at that time.
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Slovakia · Day 2Peter PellegriniThe Security Council should better reflect today's realities and give a stronger voice to countries and regions that are still underrepresented.
Countries from the region often understand a crisis best.
Giving them a stronger voice can help us act earlier and prevent escalation.
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Eswatini · Day 2King Mswati IIIRestoring trust cannot be achieved through declarations alone.
It requires that promises already made be honored and that our institutions demonstrate the capacity and will have to respond to changing global realities.
Since the Ezulwini Consensus was adopted in 2005, sadly, Africa still has no permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
2passages
Uganda · Day 2Jessica Rose Epel AlupoAccordingly, we remain and reaffirm our commitment to the principles of the UN Charter as the cornerstone of global diplomacy, supporting the interconnected pillars of peace and security, human rights, humanitarian affairs, and sustainable development.
We believe the United Nations must remain agile and adaptive to evolving global realities.
Uganda is committed to working with the entire membership to build consensus on necessary systemic reforms, particularly within the UN Security Council.
2passages
Italy · Day 2Antonio TajaniWe will continue to support Ukraine for as long as necessary while working towards a just peace and towards a future in which Russia can once again be a partner in dialogue rather than a threat to Europe.
Russia, as a permanent member of the Security Council, cannot evade its responsibilities.
A ceasefire is not a concession to the other side.
2passages
Uzbekistan · Day 2Saida MirziyoyevaWe need the United Nations capable of implementing decisions, not just making them.
We need the United Nations where voices of every country are heard.
Uzbekistan supports the UN Secretary-General's efforts within the framework of the UN80 initiative aimed at adapting the organization to modern requirements.
2passages
Burundi · Day 2Évariste NdayishimiyeWe therefore strongly reaffirm the need for reform of the United Nations Security Council in order to allow for permanent African representation and more equitable participation by the continent in the international community's decision-making mechanisms.
In this regard, Burundi believes that discussions on reform must also address the financial viability of the United Nations system by strengthening the predictability, transparency, and sustainability of its financing.
It would not be coherent to entrust the organization with ever greater responsibilities without guaranteeing it the resources necessary for their implementation.
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Czechia · Day 2Petr PavelThe international community must become better at preventing crises, protecting civilians, and defending the rules it has agreed to uphold.
The Czech Republic is ready to do its part.
Let me reiterate that we are seeking a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council for the period 2032-2033.
1passages
Timor-Leste · Day 2José Ramos-HortaAnd after more than 80 years of men at the helm of our Organization, needless to say, We ought to have enough wisdom and elect a woman with unquestionable integrity, unblemished record, and in the face of human rights, a strong advocacy of gender equality and inclusion, rule of law, democracy, solid experience in senior management in national and multilateral institution.
Mr. President, Excellencies, For developing countries, particularly small island developing states and least developed countries, efficiency must translate into stronger delivery on the ground, not reduce essential support.
Timor-Leste urges comprehensive reform, expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories, so that developing countries and historically underrepresented regions have a stronger voice in decisions concerning international peace and security.
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Dominican Republic · Day 2Luis Rodolfo Abinader CoronaThis year, we were one of the first countries to fully pay our contribution to the regular budget.
Renewing representation requires a Security Council that looks more like the multipolar world of the present.
and it also requires thinking about who will lead this organization next.
1passages
Ukraine · Day 2Volodymyr ZelenskyyWhen someone gives Russia more money through trade, they give this war more time.
That is exactly why we insist on limiting trade with the aggressor and why we are burning Russia's revenues ourselves.
Many of you here Many of you here seen more than once how the abuse of the veto at the UN weakens the world and pushes peace further away.
1passages
Bulgaria · Day 2Iliana IotovaThe Pact for the Future provides an important guideline, but it must be supported by real reform.
The Security Council ought to reflect the world of today with more equitable regional representation and greater legitimacy and effectiveness.
Bulgaria is in favor of an enlargement of the Council's two membership categories, including with at least one additional non-permanent seat for the group of Eastern European states.
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Panama · Day 2José Raúl Mulino QuinteroI wish to reiterate to this General Assembly the need for Latin America and the Caribbean to have places with greater decision-making power in the Security Council, specifically a permanent seat, a permanent member of the Security Council of this organization.
We are a region that plays a protagonist role in food, minerals, biodiversity, and a deep-seated belief in peace and integration.
Our contribution is without doubt.
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Ethiopia · Day 2Taye Atske-Selassie AmdeAfrica has waited for too long in the shadow of global decision making.
Now it is demanding immediate justice through the comprehensive reform of the United Nations Security Council.
With genuine political goodwill, how can a world with the right conscience justify the denial of 1.6 billion Africans the right to equal representation?
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Namibia · Day 2Netumbo Nandi-NdaitwahTherefore, we shall not be passive observers to the efforts aimed at dismantling or weakening the international system that had served us over eight years, albeit with some shortcomings.
In this regard, we shall continue to call for peace over conflict, dialogue over confrontation, and peaceful coexistence over tension.
In restoring trust, we need to manage transformation of the United Nations Security Council based on equitable representation in its decision-making process to reflect contemporary geopolitical realities.
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Mozambique · Day 2Daniel Francisco ChapoReforms must also correct imbalances in representation of global governance.
In this regard, Africa cannot continue to be in a center of the Security Council agenda while remaining absent from its rank of permanent members.
Africa must be a permanent member of the Security Council of the UN.
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Montenegro · Day 2Jakov MilatovićThis reform must strengthen the UN's ability to deliver where it matters most.
in preventing conflict, protecting human rights and freedoms, advancing sustainable development, and responding effectively to humanitarian crises.
This responsibility also extends to the Security Council itself, which must become more effective, representative, accountable, and transparent.
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Spain · Day 2Pedro Sánchez Pérez-CastejónThey asked us to fulfill it.
They asked us to defend it and for us to turn back to it in times of uncertainty and extraordinary difficulty.
And today, is one of those times and therefore it's our duty to rise to the courage and the ambition present in this text in the United Nations Charter and this is why ladies and gentlemen we need to reform the Security Council so that all of the regions in the world have fair representation and so that we can do away with the right of veto of the permanent members because as the UN Charter sets out no country should be judged in its own case, no matter how powerful they are.
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Andorra · Day 2Xavier Espot ZamoraThis organization exists because the international community understood that the destiny of peoples is shared.
No nation can prosper while ignoring the suffering of others, because the security of one depends on the security of all.
In this regard, I would like, first and foremost, to commend the excellent UN80 initiative, which proposes improvements to the work of the Secretariat, a stronger mandate life cycle, and simplification of structures to avoid duplication and overlap.
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Democratic Republic of the Congo · Day 2Judith Suminwa TulukaHow can we fail to mention the historic anomaly that is the absence of Africa among the permanent members of the Security Council?
The admission of the African Union to G20 is certainly a major step in the right direction.
However, it is not sufficient to meet this need for representation.
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