Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali says the United Nations must become a more representative body, better positioned to respond to the current crises plaguing the world. And he believes that Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues- Birkett, Guyana’s nominee for the next UN Secretary-General, is best suited to lead the body.
In his wide-ranging address, the President said the global body must “instrument for the future” — doing much more to end conflicts and solve problems like food insecurity and the climate crisis.
However, he opined that the body, which was founded after the Second World War, is not representative enough. The Security Council, which is the principal United Nations organ responsible for maintaining international peace and security, should have permanent representatives from Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
“We need a Security Council that reflects the geopolitical realities of the twenty-first century, not the power structures of 1945; a Council that embraces the emerging multipolarity of our world, including permanent representation from Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean,” he said.
“If the United Nations is to remain humanity’s best hope, then this is not the hour to retreat from multilateralism. This is the hour to reclaim and to renew it. For it is in times such as these—when wars rage across borders, when the shadow of existential threats falls across the future of human civilisation, when the old certainties are dissolving before our eyes—that multilateralism must rise.”
And as he expressed hope that reforms will take shape, he pitched Ambassador Rodrigues- Birkett as the best person for the job. She currently serves as Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the UN.
“I know personally, and many of you know this too, of the Permanent Representative sitting here in New York. You know her character, her will, her commitment, her love for this world.
“I know this world will be a better place with Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett as the Secretary-General of the UN,” he said.
Ambassador Rodrigues- Birkett is currently one of the frontrunners for the next SG. The term of the current SG, António Guterres, ends this year.
Source: NEW ROOMS SITE
