Inaugurating Renovated Conference Hall, Secretary-General Calls to ‘Renew Pledge to Work for People of Africa’
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the inauguration of the renovated Africa Hall, in Addis Ababa today.
It is an enormous pleasure to join all of you for this moment of history — in this house of history. I thank all our partners — particularly the Government of Ethiopia, along with our own United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, for the tremendous work.
This hall is where Africa came together to give life to the Organization of African Unity, now the African Union. Times were very different. In 1961, when this Hall was inaugurated by Emperor Haile Selassie, only 26 African nations had achieved independence — many of them just months before.
Today, Africa is a transformed continent. And to my mind, this renewed building symbolizes renewed hope and unity for Africa. This Hall is a bridge between Africa’s past and future — honouring shared struggles and achievements, while embracing common aspirations. It is ubuntu.
A state-of-the-art twenty-first century facility that preserves the grandeur and history of this great continent. I also see it as an invitation for everyone to cooperate in pursuit of a better future, for Africa and for the world.
As we celebrate this new beginning, we must also acknowledge the challenges ahead of us. Africa is a continent of hope. But it faces challenges that are deeply rooted in history and are exacerbated by climate change, conflict and persistent poverty. And African women often bear the brunt of these hardships.
Addressing these issues requires resolute action and renewed solidarity. Our global institutions were built at a time when most of Africa was under colonial rule. But unlike this Hall with its twenty-first century innovations, many of these global institutions are stuck in those times, unable to respond to the aspirations and rights of the African people.
Africa still has no permanent seat at the Security Council. And let’s hope it will be corrected soon. And international financial institutions often cannot provide African countries with the response they need – whether it is protection from strangling debt or from climate catastrophe they did not cause.
We can only move forward if we also renew and update global institutions — by making them more effective, fair and inclusive.
Last month, world leaders adopted the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations. The Pact recognizes the need to reform the Security Council to make it representative, transparent, efficient, democratic and accountable.
It also calls for ground-breaking reforms of the international financial architecture — including to massively scale-up affordable development and climate finance.
And the Global Digital Compact includes the first truly universal agreement on the governance of artificial intelligence (AI) — giving every country a seat at the table, while supporting partnerships to bridge the digital divide and build AI capacity in developing countries and namely in Africa.
We must now move forward together in implementing these historic agreements without delay. And we must include young people at every step of the way.
For more than 60 years, the Africa Hall has been a symbol of the continent’s collective aspirations, a testament to its resilience, and a beacon of hope for entire generations.
Today, as we step into this renewed space, let us also renew our pledge to work for the people of Africa and the world we need. May the debates and discussions here continue to lead towards greater peace, unity and prosperity for all on the African continent. And I thank you.