UN expands Nairobi hub as Guterres pushes African representation

By Rédaction Africanews with AFP, AP

The United Nations must be reformed to increase African representation, secretary-general António Guterres said on Monday when he broke ground on an expansion of the UN’s Kenyan campus.

Guterres has repeatedly called over the years for change to give Africa and other regions better representation at the UN.

But this request has made little progress since it requires the five permanent Security Council members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — to agree to dilute their own power.

“We need deeper reforms of… global institutions that reflect the world as it is today, not as it was 80 years ago, and this includes the Security Council, where a historic injustice persists in denying Africa permanent seats,” Guterres told reporters.

Asked by AFP for a realistic roadmap towards Security Council reform, Guterres said it would be “difficult.”

“But there are some steps already in the right direction,” he said. He pointed to efforts by Britain and France to limit the use of the veto by permanent members on the Security Council in extreme situations like genocide.

“It’s important to say that reform is absolutely necessary, because with the geopolitical divides we are witnessing, to secure peace and security in the present world is becoming extremely, extremely difficult and we need an effective Security Council,” Guterres said.

His comments came as French and Kenyan foreign affairs officials also discussed reform of the Security Council.

They were meeting on the sidelines of a two-day summit co-hosted by France and Kenya to bring together African leaders and business executives.

Guterres was in Kenya to break ground on a $340-million expansion of the UN’s Nairobi campus — part of efforts to cut costs by moving staff from its New York and Geneva offices.

“It is a cheaper location than others… It’s good business for the UN,” Guterres said.

The campus began as a regional hub for the UN’s environmental and housing arms but has grown to house more than 80 of its offices and more than 4,000 staff.

Washington has severely cut contributions to the UN under President Donald Trump — especially related to humanitarian aid — and threatened more cuts, putting adding pressure on the organisation to cut costs.