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By Emmanuel Ukaobasi
There is a growing consensus among world leaders to reform the United Nations, UN, amid this new era with significant transformations around the world, and make it to truly represent the entire international community.As the General Assembly of the UN launched its seventy-seventh session in September last year, 190 world leaders took the rostrum, taking stock of the state of the world.Sensing an awareness that humanity has entered a new era, Csaba Korosi of Hungary and the Assembly President for the session, underscored that the international community has reached a time of paradigm shift, ‘’because the movements, the adjustments that we see around us cannot be called mere modifications any longer. They are significant transformations in the making!!He highlighted climate change, human rights and the modernization of the UN as key challenges and called for a peaceful world and international cooperation to mitigate climate change.
The minister for foreign affairs and Expatriates of Syria, Fayssal makdad, Described the war against his country as ‘’ am attempt by the West to maintain control of the world.’’ Echoing the Syrian delegate, the representative of the Democratic peoples Republic of Korea apposed the imposition of western values behind ‘’ signboards’’ such as human right s and democracy while not respecting sovereign equality.He criticized the UN Security Council, UNSC, for not adhering to the principles of impartiality and objectivity.That is why when President Joe Biden during his speech before the 2022 UN General Assembly (UNGA) affirmed the United States support for increasing the number of permanent and non-permanent representatives on the UNSC led veteran observers of the UN to believe that the US only wants to consolidate Angla-Saxon, hegemony in the world contrary. To the principle of multipolarity, a geopolitical situation that arises when several power centers balance each other out.
The US Repredentative to the UN, Linda Thomas –Greenfield, keeps negotiating with dipomats of other countries to obtain their assessment and approval of the US plan to reform the UN in order to resist and try of veto when making decisions aimed solely in the interest of the U.S,Russia has used its veto on two issues recently than Ukraine, blocking the US proposal for additional sanctions on North korea in tandem with china, and shooting down western proposals to extend the council mandate for UN humanitarian aid to non-government controlled north-western Syria. Russia later did agree to a six-month aid extension some days after casting its veto.Washington supports the idea of granting permanent membership in the UNSC to Germany, Japan AND India, which, with the exception of India reflecting the balance of power ion the world after world war II This includesthe refusal of Germany and Japan to support the UN resolution on combating the glorification of Nazism and racial discrimination.
At the same time, there are US actions that mount pressure on poor and developing states using such advantages as the location of the UN headquarters and its various bodies on its territory. Eritrea has bored the burden of an unfair imternational order trough in which lee than 1 percent of the population owns 99 per cent of the worlds wealth , illicit sanctions, the use of surrogate forces to create a situation of permanent conflict and instability, and the weaponization of human rights ro isolate and ostracize the young nation ‘’ asserted Osman Saleh Mohammed, the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.Washington, promoting its interests in the UN, continues to impose the American model of democracy and interference in the democracy and interference in the sovereign affairs of African countries against their background of numerous internal problems od the continent (International Terrorism, poverty, low food and energy security, etc.) Lejuene Mbella Mbella, Minister for foreign affairs of Cameroon, citing widespread hotbeds of tension, stressed that the voice of Africa be heard and supported globally. He pointed outthat international commitments on climate are no longer being met or are being met’’ in dribs and drabs’’, due to selfishness and insufficient political will. It is no exaggeration to affirm that humanity’s destiny is at stake, he reportedly said, despitethe statements of leaders of western countries and the US-about the importance and the potential of Africa, not a single African state has been offered to join the UNSC.This demonstrates that the approach in the current world order is based on unspecified rules. This is equally due to the fact that many African countries havechosen to be neutral in world geopolitics, but are seeking opportunities to develop robust economic relations with China and Russia for the common good of their peoples Jean Claude Gakosso , the Congo Minister for Foreign Affairs in his statement, affirmed like korosi of Hungary that the world is witnessing an unprecedented level of intense , complex and numerous crises which include insecurity of food, threatened bio-diversityand attempts to turn back climate change commitments by world powers.In addition, he said, tensions and hostilities between permanent members of the Security Council are execerbated despite its primary vocation being the preservation of peace.
The world, under the auspices of the United Nations, he continued, should without delay commit to just, sincere , and equitable peace negotiations. If not, confrontation could press humanity to an irremediable cataclysm and uncontrollable. nuclear war, which as Albert Einstein said, would be ‘’ the last battle that humans would fight on Earth!! Therefore the proposed reforms of the UN , according to experts should remain focused to make it nimbler, less bureaucratic, more transparent and accountable , and more decentralized and effective in order to make progress on the 2030 sustainable Development Goals aimed at ending poverty in all its forms to herald a world of universal respect for human rights and human dignity, the rule of law, justice, equality and non-discrimination.
Ukaobasi writes from Umuahia
