Akufo-Addo calls for UN security council reforms

17:37 - 21 September 2017

The President said it was long over due for Africa to be represented on the security council, saying the world cannot continue to preach peace and justice while the UN has structures that are not fair.

President Nana Akufo-Addo has called for urgent reforms of the United Nations (UN) Security Council in his maiden address at the 72nd Session of the United General Assembly, currently ongoing at New York.

“Ghana supports the process of UN Reform, especially of the UN Security Council, as set out in Africa’s Common Position on UN Reform, based on the Ezulwini Consensus. The time is long overdue to correct the longstanding injustice that the current structure and composition of the UN Security Council represent for the nations of Africa,” the President said on Thursday.

He continued, “We cannot continue to preach democracy and fairness around the world, we cannot insist on peace and justice around the world, when our global organisation is not seen by the majority of its members as having a structure that is just and fair. It is, indeed, seen by many as helping to perpetuate an unfair world order.”

The UN, President Akufo-Addo stressed, provides the best vehicle for the world to manage its many varied problems, adding that “we would undermine its credibility and fail in our duty if we do not reform the United Nations. We dare not let ourselves and future generations down. The time for reform has come.”