– Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti calls for reform of the UN Security Council
By Jerromie S. Walters
During the recent UN General Assembly, the call for a more inclusive and representative Security Council resonated loud and clear as African leaders demanded global powers address the longstanding inequity in the Council’s composition. They articulated a compelling case and highlighted how the legacy of colonialism and its lingering effects have left the continent disproportionately excluded.
As many have said, Liberia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Sara Beysolow Nyanti, also believes that this exclusion is not merely a matter of representation, it directly impacts Africa’s ability to influence discussions on critical issues, such as conflict resolution, climate change, and sustainable development. The 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly took place at the UN Headquarters in New York from 22 to 27 September 2024. During an interview with GZERO Media in the U.S., following the climax of the Assembly, Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti accentuated the pressing need for reform in the UN Security Council, particularly regarding the representation of African nations. She stated that the UN must lead by example and adhere to the principles it expects from others.
“The UN needs to lead by example, and the UN needs to stand by the principles that it holds others accountable to. You can’t be telling nations, least developing countries, that they must be inclusive and that you must have equitable systems and all of these things where the highest body at the UN is very screwed in terms of who has a voice and who can say what happens around the world and then can choose not to live by what they are telling others to do. I’m sorry, it doesn’t work anymore. All of us need to be held accountable,” Minister Nyanti said.
The Liberian Foreign Minister emphasized that the current structure of global governance in peace and security is no longer adequate to meet the diverse needs of countries, especially those grappling with conflict and post-conflict situations. Her words, “I think the time is right for the strong caps because many African countries have had different experiences that have led many of us to believe that the current configuration for global governance on peace and security is no longer fit for purpose. The needs of countries during conflicts, post conflicts, are not being met in line with the expectations, and voices must be heard. We talk about leaving no one behind, and if the countries that are affected don’t think they have just and equitable representation legends, there’s a problem.”
Minister Nyanti argued that African nations deserve permanent seats on the Security Council, given the continent’s critical role in global resources and governance. “I know that they [African countries] should be given permanent seats because Africa is the source of most of the resources of the world, and Africa is very critical to global governance and multilateralism. You can not have a rules-based world order that does not reflect all of the world’s people adequately, so it needs to happen, and if permanent seats are selected, we have the African Union (AU). The African Union will decide how the African Union is represented at the UN Security Council.”
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and approving any changes to the UN Charter. Permanent members are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Non-permanent members on rotation are Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, South Korea, and Switzerland. Like the UN as a whole, the Security Council was created after World War II to address the failings of the League of Nations in maintaining world peace.
On September 27, 2024, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr., joined by others, launched Liberia’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the 2026-2027 term. He called on the international community and urged member nations of the United Nations to support Liberia’s candidacy.
However, addressing concerns about the significance of these seats without veto power, Minister Nyanti called for a comprehensive overhaul of the Security Council. “We need to examine the entire structure, principles, and functioning of the Security Council,” she explained. “It is not just the matter of seats, but how will you be seated at the table, and it’s not just the matter of speaking, will you be heard at the table? It’s not a matter of being heard; will there be actions at the table? So there’s a lot to look at, and I think just talking about veto and non-veto is not the issue. It’s about overhauling the entire system. I would like to be a part of a process that reviews the entire peacekeeping operation around the world.”
Minister Nyanti criticized the outdated mechanisms of the UN, stating, “The system we have today, the solutions and the tools were made back after the war, war two. I mean, they are not fit for purpose for the current world that we are living in as I believe very strongly that we need to go back to the beginning. Go back to the foundation, look at what’s there and what needs to be overhauled and reformed.”
At the just-ended UN General Assembly, leaders emphasized the urgent need for the 15-member Security Council to reflect contemporary realities, arguing that its current structure is antiquated and ill-suited to address the complex challenges of the modern world. They pointed out that the failure to incorporate a broader spectrum of voices within the Council compromises the UN’s legitimacy and effectiveness, particularly in responding to Africa’s pressing peace and security challenges.
Malawi’s President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera emphasized that how UN Member States navigate their relationships – whether through cooperation, competition, or conflict – will “ultimately determine” the world we shape for future generations. “So, when we sit in this chamber to deliberate on these dynamics between Member States, we are designing and deciding our future,” he stated.
Like Chakwera, William Ruto, President of Kenya, doubled down on the need for reform. He highlighted that while his country is committed and is investing to promote stability and security within the region and beyond, we must “candidly acknowledge” that international cooperation, in its current form, has clear limitations.
Gambian President Adama Barrow echoed those sentiments and recalled that the Summit of the Future, which preceded the high-level debate, determined that human actions were largely responsible for the challenges the global community faces today.
Veto power:
Under Article 27 of the UN Charter, Security Council decisions on all substantive matters require the affirmative votes of nine (i.e., three-fifths) of the members. A negative vote or a “veto” by a permanent member prevents the adoption of a proposal, even if it has received the required votes.[67] Abstention is not regarded as a veto in most cases, though all five permanent members must vote for adopting any amendment to the UN Charter.
Procedural matters cannot be vetoed, so the veto right cannot be used to avoid discussion of an issue. The same holds for certain non-binding decisions that directly regard permanent members.[67] Most vetoes have been used for blocking a candidate for Secretary-General or the admission of a member state, not in critical international security situations.
In the negotiations leading up to the creation of the UN, the veto power was opposed by many small countries and was forced on them by the veto nations—the United States, the United Kingdom, China, France, and the Soviet Union—by threatening that the UN would otherwise not be founded.
