Africa and the UN

HE grand debate of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly ended yesterday amid calls to reform the world body that has been reduced to a paper tiger by the West.

A high-level meeting on the rule of law at the international and national level that preceded the grand debate was dominated by calls to reform the UN system to make it democratic and effective.

The document released at the end of the meeting implored member states to be bound by the founding principles of the UN, among them the sovereign equality of member states given the big brother attitude displayed by the US and its allies towards other member states.

President Robert Mugabe said in his address that UN reforms should be far-reaching by changing the UN’s specialised agencies and international financial institutions, to enable them to respond effectively to global challenges.

The emerging market countries need to have a bigger say in how the Bretton Woods institutions are run so that they are not used to further Western foreign policies. The International Monetary Fund has led the way by agreeing to lower the combined voting power of the US and EU members that was over 50 percent, reducing the rest of the world to spectators.

As of 2010, IMF members resolved that voting powers should change to tally with the growth rates of member states, a move that gave emerging markets a say in the global financial system.

In his address to the General Assembly last week, Mugabe called for comprehensive reform of the UN system, saying Africa would not be bought off by empty promises or cosmetic changes to the UN Security Council disguised as UN reforms.

Africa’s position on reforms should be upheld and supported. It is a travesty of justice that a continent that is home to 54 of the UN’s 193 member states is not represented on the council.

The council seats will enable Africa to effectively contribute to peacekeeping and conflict resolution. We know that Security Council reform needs the support of three-quarters of UN member states, all permanent members of the council, but we are confident in Africa’s compelling case.

Africa represents almost a quarter of the membership of the UN and we back Mugabe’s call for representation. – The Herald, Zimbabwe