The global governance system must be reformed for a more efficient, inclusive and fair system to meet the needs of the current world, participants underlined Saturday during a panel in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
In the panel called “Revitalising Multilateralism: U.N. and Beyond,” veteran Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkır, who was the president of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), said that the current United Nations system was a product of mid-20th century and does not meet the needs of the 21st century.
“We need tools of the 21st century to respond to the issues of this century,” he said underlining the need for reform.
“For the last 20 years, maybe 30 years, I haven’t heard any success stories from the U.N.’s policy area. We need to solve the problems of the 21st century with the tools of the 21st century. There are some obstacles in the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) regarding this issue. One or two countries can block everything. If you want to restructure the UNSC, it must be decided by the UNSC.”
Ayşe Sultanoğlu, United Nations representative to the Geneva International Discussions (UNRGID), also accepted that a more efficient, inclusive and fair system is needed, but also underlined the importance of the United Nations.
“If there is no United Nations right now, we would have to invent it,” she said.
Naledi Pandor, a South African minister of International Relations and Cooperation, also highlighted that the biggest problem in the international system is inequality and criticized the lack of African countries’ representation.
Pandor said that the U.N. is one of the leading multilateral institutions in the world and that they see the Security Council as an “undemocratic structure” established after World War II.
“Africa is not properly represented at the council. The decisions taken are very inadequate, they are taken only for five countries that are permanent. These countries have undemocratic veto power, they only take decisions according to their own interests instead of global interests. (We) definitely need a reform.”
Expressing that she believes there is an inequality in the attitude of the international community regarding Palestine and Ukraine, Pandor talked about the importance of reforms in the U.N. structure.
Former President of North Macedonia, Gjorge Ivanov pointed out that the Security Council was established by the leaders of the countries that won World War II. “At the moment, we know that the U.N. is slowly losing its power in the establishment of peace. The U.N., like every other organization, should be effective in times of crisis. When crises arise, it must find solutions to these crises.”
Turkey in recent years has repeatedly criticized the lack of representation at the U.N., saying that such an unjust system is no longer sustainable.
In order to make the U.N. system active again, the council must be reformed, Ankara has repeatedly highlighted.
The three-day high-level forum in the resort city of Antalya has brought together participants from 75 countries, including 17 heads of state, 80 government ministers and 39 representatives of international organizations.
DailySabah
