Security Council should be made more representative of geopolitical realities: UN chief

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council should be enlarged and made more representative of today's geopolitical realities, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.

In remarks at the ministerial-level open debate on "The Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Practicing Multilateralism, Reforming and Improving Global Governance," organized by China, the UN chief said the Pact for the Future adopted in September last year is aimed at strengthening global governance for the 21st century and rebuilding trust -- trust in multilateralism, trust in the United Nations, and trust in the Security Council.

The pact includes a revitalized commitment to reform the global financial architecture to better and more fairly represent the needs of developing countries, and a Global Digital Compact that calls for an AI governance body that brings developing countries to the decision-making table for the first time, he said.

"The pact also recognizes that the Security Council must reflect the world of today, not the world of 80 years ago, and sets out important principles to guide this long-awaited reform," said Guterres.

The Security Council "should be enlarged and made more representative of today's geopolitical realities," he stressed.

Noting that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the United Nations, the secretary-general said the world body was the result of a global commitment to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war," and signaled a commitment to an entirely new level of international cooperation grounded in international law and the founding Charter.

He said that eight decades later, the United Nations remains the essential, one-of-a-kind meeting ground to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights.

"But eight decades is a long time," said Guterres. "And because we believe in the singular value and purpose of the United Nations, we must always strive to improve the institution and the way we work."

"We have the hardware for international cooperation -- but the software needs an update," including an update in representation to reflect the realities of today; an update in support for developing countries to redress historical injustices; an update to ensure countries adhere to the purposes, principles and norms that ground multilateralism in justice and fairness; and an update to the peace operations, he said.

The UN chief highlighted the global challenges crying out for multilateral solutions, such as peace getting pushed further out of reach, terrorism and violent extremism remaining persistent scourges, and the peril of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence to undermine and even replace human thought, human identity and human control.

At the heart of the Pact for the Future, said Guterres, "is a pact for peace -- peace in all its dimensions."

He called for continuing improving the working methods of the Security Council to make it "more inclusive, transparent, efficient, democratic and accountable," stressing that now is the time to build on the momentum provided by the Pact for the Future and work towards a greater consensus to move the intergovernmental negotiations forward.

Stressing that multilateral cooperation is "the beating heart" of the United Nations, Guterres said that guided by the solutions in the Pact for the Future, multilateralism can also become an even more powerful instrument of peace.

"But multilateralism is only as strong as each and every country's commitment to it," said the UN chief, urging all member states to continue strengthening and updating the global problem-solving mechanisms, to "make them fit for purpose, fit for people, and fit for peace." ■