UNGA meet 2023: 'Reform or rupture', says UN chief Antonio Guterres

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday gave a clarion call to reform the UN Security Council “in line with the world of today” and based on equity, telling leaders that the 15-nation body reflects the political and economic realities of 1945 and risks becoming part of the problem instead of solving it.

“Our world is becoming unhinged. Geopolitical tensions are rising. Global challenges are mounting. And we seem incapable of coming together to respond,” Guterres told world leaders in his address to the 78th session of the UN General Assembly here.

Addressing the world from the iconic green podium in the UNGA hall, Guterres said the world confronts a host of existential threats — from the climate crisis to disruptive technologies — and “we do so at a time of chaotic transition.
 

He emphasised that a multipolar world needs strong and effective multilateral institutions, yet global governance is stuck in time.
 

“Look no further than the United Nations Security Council and the Bretton Woods system. They reflect the political and economic realities of 1945 when many countries in this Assembly Hall were still under colonial domination. The world has changed. Our institutions have not,” he said.
 

The UN chief underscored that “we cannot effectively address problems as they are if institutions don't reflect the world as it is. Instead of solving problems, they risk becoming part of the problem.” He asserted that it is high time to renew multilateral institutions based on 21st century economic and political realities —rooted in equity, solidarity and universality — anchored in the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law.
 

“That means reforming the Security Council in line with the world of today,” he said.
 

“It means redesigning the international financial architecture so that it becomes truly universal and serves as a global safety net for developing countries in trouble,” Guterres said.
 

“I have no illusions. Reforms are a question of power. I know there are many competing interests and agendas. But the alternative to reform is not the status quo. The alternative to reform is further fragmentation. It’s reform or rupture,” he said.
 

US President Joe Biden also appealed to the world leaders to stand with Ukraine against Russian invaders, hoping Republicans in Congress will also take notice.

Azerbaijan sends army to Karabakh

Azerbaijan launched military action in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, a step that could presage a new war in the volatile area but which Baku said was necessary to restore constitutional order and drive out Armenian military formations.

Karabakh is internationally recognised as Azerbaijani territory but part of it is run by breakaway ethnic Armenian authorities who say the area is their ancestral homeland. It has been at the centre of two wars - the latest in 2020 - since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.
 

It was not clear whether Baku's actions would trigger a full-scale conflict dragging in neighbouring Armenia or be a more limited military operation. But there were already signs of political fallout in Yerevan. Reuters