African Leaders Urge Stronger Role for Their Continent in United Nations Decision-Making, as General Assembly Concludes High-Level Debate
As the high-level debate opening the eighty-first session of the General Assembly came to a close, several African countries took the stage today calling for a stronger role for their continent in the UN’s decision-making as well as in the global economy.
Taking the rostrum during the week-long debate were 113 Heads of State and Government, 1 Crown Prince, 11 Vice-Presidents, 7 Deputy Prime Ministers and 48 ministers. More than 50 of those speakers were from Africa, and today alone, the Assembly heard from 9 of them.
“Africa is not the world’s periphery; it is one of its centres of gravity,” said Constant Serge Bounda, Minister for Foreign Affairs, La Francophonie and Congolese Abroad of the Republic of the Congo, which sits directly on the equator, on the west coast of the continent. When Africa speaks with one voice, it “inspires the world and opens new perspectives”, he said, adding that the continent “can no longer remain on the sidelines of decisions that shape its destiny”. Citing the Ezulwini Consensus, he stated that Africa’s demand for two permanent Council seats with veto power “is not a request, but a right” — “Africa is not asking for a favour; it is claiming its rightful place.”
Ahmed Attaf, Algeria’s Minister of State and Minister for Foreign Affairs, echoed the call for Council reform, emphasizing that “correcting the historical injustice suffered by Africa requires permanent and fair African representation”. He added that only a comprehensive political process allowing the people of Western Sahara to exercise their inherent right to self-determination can resolve the status of “the last colony on the African continent”. Noting that the Israeli occupation continues to kill Palestinian civilians, he asked: “What confidence can remain in international law, when the aggressor is granted the right to self-defence, while the victim is required to justify even the right to survive?”
Double Standards, Institutionalized Injustice: Vicious Cycle of Neocolonialism Exploitation Must End
Also condemning the double standards and institutionalized injustice that have eroded trust among the UN’s Member States, Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Burkina Faso, highlighted the Confederation of Sahel States. Its participants — Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger — are united under the motto of “One people, one space, one destiny”. Warning that criminal networks are aiming to “subjugate the Sahel through fear”, he said the Confederation seeks to leave behind the vicious cycle of neocolonial exploitation. Pointing to the European Parliament’s attempts to justify a possible offensive through its resolutions, he also rejected State-supported terrorism — part of the foreign policy of certain powers.
Along similar lines, Abdoulaye Diop, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Mali, said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)’s interference in Libya in 2011 led to a security crisis in the region. The international community must not remain silent about Ukraine’s interference in Africa and its support for terrorist groups, he said, adding: “There is no such thing as a good terrorist and a bad terrorist.”
Africa Needs Climate Finance, Solutions Tailored to African Realities
He also highlighted the impact of climate change and desertification on the Sahel, adding that they directly affect livelihoods and threaten peace and security. Calling for solutions “tailored to Sahelian realities”, he asked for stronger links among efforts to combat desertification, ensure food security, manage water resources and build resilience.
Despite contributing negligibly to global greenhouse gas emissions, Malawi is on the front line of the climate crisis, George Chapatula Chaponda, its Minister for Foreign Affairs said, noting devastating cyclones and droughts. Major emitters — historic and current — must honour their climate-finance commitments by providing accessible, highly concessional financing, rather than relying on debt-creating instruments that further burden vulnerable countries. Economic transformation is an “urgent survival strategy” for Malawi and its Government is modernizing agriculture, expanding mining and accelerating digitalization. But “we cannot achieve sustainable development while drowning in debt,” he underscored, calling for immediate, comprehensive debt relief and restructuring.
Osman Saleh Mohammed, Eritrea’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, also stressed the need to redress economic injustices. The prevailing international order has become a zero-sum game and “it is imperative to install a new world order that is predicated on justice and rationality”, he said. He also underscored the need to stop the war and subversion that have unleashed chaos in Eritrea’s broader neighbourhood, including the Nile Basin, the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and the Gulf States. “There must be an end to interventions under the rubric of humanitarian assistance,” he said.
Stop Flow of External Weapons, Mercenaries
Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Sudan also warned against external influence — including the flow of weapons and mercenaries into its territory. Regional sponsors and some neighbouring States have created new battlefronts in his country, he said, calling for the dismantling of the Rapid Support Forces. The international community’s silence on the militia’s acts, including failing to designate the militia as a terrorist organisation, is prolonging the war, he said, also voicing concern about the Security Council’s expansion of the Darfur weapons embargo to all of Sudan.
Expressing solidarity with Sudan, Cecilia A.M. Adeng, South Sudan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, said a lasting peace requires a political solution and outstanding issues from the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement such as the final status of Abyei require peaceful dialogue between Juba and Khartoum. South Sudan’s own history has been shaped by more than half a century of struggle, she said, underscoring that “peace requires political agreements, but lasting peace also requires reconciliation, forgiveness and courage.”
Her country’s path since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the 2011 referendum on self-determination has been difficult, she said, but today’s mission is to consolidate peace through strengthening institutions and creating good conditions for it to determine its future through democracy.
Leaders Spotlight Challenges in Other Regions
Several speakers from other continents also spotlighted challenges affecting their regions.
Kim Son Gyong, Vice-Foreign Minister of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, rejecting “the unilateral high-handedness and tyranny of a hegemonic State”, highlighted the military alliance between the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea. That no physical conflict has occurred on or around the Korean peninsula is due to his country having a deterrent in place “strong enough to break anyone’s will to start a war of aggression”, he said. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is a nuclear-weapons State and there is no going back on that fact, he added.
Sri Lanka has been severely impacted by the conflicts in West Asia and elsewhere, as an island nation situated at the crossroads of the Indian Ocean and with a large number of migrant workers in West Asia, said its Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vijitha Herath. “These developments have direct security, economic and social implications for us,” he said. Highlighting his country’s historic budget allocations to healthcare and education, he added. “Although the guns fell silent 17 years ago, the deep wounds of that conflict remain, and much remains to be done to heal them.”
Ingrid Jackson, Permanent Representative of Grenada, joined other Caribbean leaders in calling for the timely renewal and full deployment of the Gang Suppression Force in Haiti, alongside support for the Haitian National Police and conditions for credible elections and restored constitutional governance. “Haiti is not a failed state,” she said, stressing also: “Haiti represents a promise yet to be fulfilled”. To that end, she urged the international community to respond, “not with pity but with purpose”.
Ms. Jackson also echoed other speakers’ deep concern over the Cuban people’s hardships, particularly that of children, the elderly and other vulnerable groups “whose difficulties deepen with every day” — under the United States long-standing economic embargo. She urged constructive engagement “that places the well-being of the Cuban people at its centre and opens a path towards meaningful relief, improved living conditions and renewed opportunities”.
General Assembly President Provides Recap of 6-Day Debate
Speaking at the conclusion of the meeting, General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman, said the 194 delegations addressing the gathering always spoke with the conviction that the challenges before us demand action and that the UN remains indispensable. “Across your statements, one word came before all others: peace,” he said. “But peace was spoken of less as a distant aspiration than as an urgent defence of the UN Charter, international law and the protection of civilians.”
This year, more delegations spoke on AI than climate change and human rights. AI governance must be human-centred, inclusive and attentive to the needs of developing countries. “Member States must remain at the heart of this work.” He called for continued work by Member States to “restore trust by rebuilding a United Nations that delivers for all.”
“World leaders also spoke clearly about reforming the United Nations,” he said, stating that while the UN80 Initiative will continue, “administrative reform cannot substitute for deeper political reform” and no reform agenda is complete without addressing the injustice of Africa’s exclusion from the Security Council.
He went on to discuss the appointment of the next Secretary-General, calling it “one of this Assembly’s most consequential responsibilities at a time when the Organization is facing complex issues”. The Charter clearly states that the Assembly will appoint the Secretary-General on the Security Council’s recommendation, he said, adding that the process must be transparent, inclusive and merit-based. “The selection process must strengthen, not diminish, the legitimacy, independence and moral authority of the office,” he said.