President Cyril Ramaphosa has stated that the United Nations Security Council must be quickly reformated in order to perform its job fairly and effectively.
Africa, with a population of 1.3 billion people, does not have permanent representation on the UN Security Council, according to the President.
President Ramaphosa was speaking at the High-Level Dialogue on Global Development on the sidelines of the 2022 BRICS Leaders’ Summit, which China hosted on Friday.
“As like-minded emerging market countries, we need to move from a common vision of an emerging international order to a common programme of change. We must be committed to shaping our own institutions to support the growth and development of emerging economies.
“Our vision has been to harness our common vision and resources to improve the lives of our people through mutually beneficial cooperation and to actively shape the world to benefit the Global South,” he said.
The President urged the BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa] to approach their cooperation with openness and unity, with the true purpose of finding similar interests and building shared values.
“We have the potential to leverage our combined economic strength to drive a sustainable global economic recovery.
“It is up to us, as emerging and developing economies, to put the global South on a new trajectory of progress, prosperity and self-reliance and to shape an inclusive and equitable international order,” the President said.
He stated that this is a chance to shift from solidarity to collective action for the benefit of all people in all countries.
The President also thanked the BRICS chair for continuing the bloc’s history of constructive interaction with like-minded emerging markets and developing economies.
“We all share a desire for increased representation and a progressive perspective in global governance institutions. We share a common history of struggle against imperialism, colonialism, exploitation and continued underdevelopment.
“Our ties of solidarity were forged at the Bandung Conference in 1955, which culminated in the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement,” he said.
President Ramaphosa emphasized that the summit will continue to serve as a model for South-South cooperation and solidarity.
The President stated that less than a decade ago that the world had come together in a historic decision on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“We recognised that eradicating poverty was the greatest global challenge of our time. We committed ourselves to a common agenda for humanity that would see us collectively address climate change, conflict, poverty and insecurity,” the President said.
Promote international peace and security
The President emphasized that the COVID-19 outbreak underscored the interconnectedness of the countries and underlined their shared vulnerability.
He went on to say that the Ukraine crisis has shown flaws in the world order.
“Urgent global issues like COVID-19, poverty, inequality, climate change and the broader sustainable development agenda have been eclipsed by the conflict.
“We must safeguard the principle of multilateralism. We need a United Nations that is fit-for-purpose and clear in its benefits to all humanity, especially in times of insecurity and crises,” the President said.
President Ramaphosa urged nations to support international peace and security by encouraging inclusive dialogue and peaceful dispute resolution.