South Africa’s Ramaphosa pushes UN reform in New York

African leaders have put on an impressive display of unity at the UN General Assembly this week. On climate change and the campaign for permanent African seats on the Security Council, they have been on message. The UNSC’s five permanent members ‘make decisions on behalf of more than 85% of the world’s population living in countries of the Global South,’ said South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on 23 September, adding ‘they continue to use their veto powers to paralyse collective action and prevent timely responses to crises, even in the face of clear violations of international law.’

That won plaudits from most of the 193 UN member states, but the focus of the permanent five members on the UNSC – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – has shifted from an acceptance of reform to defending the status quo.

Ramaphosa, his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney struggled to keep a focus on the UN’s key roles – on security and peacekeeping as well as development finance – as the UN faces its most serious financial crisis since its foundation. Yet the issues are tightly connected as UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Izumi Nakamitsu argued: global arms spending hit a record US$2.7 trillion in 2024 while the funding gap for the Sustainable Development Goals is now running at $4trn a year and widening.