'UN Needs Reforms To Ensure Credibility'

The credibility of the United Nations is at stake if it fails to heed the calls for reforms, President Nana Akufo-Addo has cautioned.

The President’s maiden address to the 72^nd session of the UN General Assembly was appended by a call for changes to the way the UN operated, which he noted was “seen by many as helping to perpetuate an unfair world order.”

“This organisation provides the best vehicle for the world to manage its very many problems and we would undermine its credibility and fail in our duty if we do not reform the United Nations,” he said.

In an address that touched on regional integration, the free SHS policy’s role in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and a vision of a world without nuclear weapons, President Akufo-Addo said the UN needed to act to correct the “injustice” that lay in the composition of the UN Security Council.

“I say nothing new when I draw attention to the urgent need to reform this organisation. It has been talked about and scheduled for a long time but somehow, we have never found the courage and the will to reform the United Nations.”

“Ghana supports the process of UN reforms, especially of the UN Security Council… The time is long overdue to correct the longstanding injustice that the current structure and composition of the UN Security Council represents for the nations of Africa.”

President Akufo-Addo stressed that the UN cannot continue to preach democracy and peace around the world when it “is not seen by a majority of its members as having a structure that is just and fair.”

Increasing calls for reforms
The 72nd UN General Assembly has been marked by calls for the UN to reform itself in order to meet the present challenges of the world.

The UN Security Council has taken a step in this regard by adopting a resolution for reform which seeks to achieve effective implementation and monitoring of peacekeeping operations.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is pushing for an overhaul of some of the organization's contentious peacekeeping programs.

UK Prime minister, Theresa May in her speech on Wednesday had warned that Britain could withhold up to 30% of its £90m core funding each year unless the UN adopted reforms. She said there was a gap between “the nobility of the UN's purposes and the effectiveness of its delivery”.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump in his speech to the UN also threatened to withdraw funding from the UN unless it reformed.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana