Software needs update, UNSC should be enlarged: Guterres

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday that the UN Security Council should be enlarged and made more representative of today's geopolitical realities. At the ministerial-level open debate at the UN HQ, Guterres 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.
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.
"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.