United Nations Security Council caught in 'concerning state of paralysis': UNGA president Dennis Francis

U.N. Security Council reform needed to ensure equitable participation of developing nations in decision-making, says U.N.G.A. President.

The United Nations (UN) Security Council is caught in a "concerning state of paralysis" and aims to serve the predominance of Global North countries, United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) president Dennis Francis has said, underlining the need for representation and equitable participation of developing nations in decision-making in a reformed Council.

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Underlining that “reform is our collective task and responsibility”, Mr. Francis said that as the president of the 78th session of the General Assembly, he believes that “we need a Council” that is more balanced, representative, responsive, democratic and transparent.

As conflicts “seem to be spreading across the globe, the Security Council whose primary responsibility is to maintain international peace and security, however, seems caught in a concerning state of paralysis,” Mr. Francis said.

“With its unsatisfactory discharge of its crucial mandate, the Council is perceived as falling short of its mandate, consequently, compromising the credibility of the entire U.N. itself,” he said.

Mr. Francis was addressing a special event titled ‘Shifting the Balance: Perspectives on United Nations Security Council Reform from Global South Think Tanks’ hosted at the U.N. headquarters by the Permanent Mission of India to the U.N. and The Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

India’s Permanent Representative to the U.N. Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said that the existing structure of the Security Council is an “anachronism” failing to adapt to the seismic shifts in international relations over the past decades.