The global order, if it still exists, is unjust and undemocratic, to say the least. What is more saddening is it remained so despite the centuries long preaching, declarations revolutions and multilateral alliances made on the promise and vision of democracy, justice, peace and equality. The world is still increasingly unsafe place, plagued with violence, greed, injustice, and hypocrisy .The irony is the presumably existing undemocratic global order is shaped and being guided predominantly by powers that proclaimed themselves as the vanguards of freedom and democracy.
One need not look further than the UN to corroborate the above argument; it is the world's largest multinational political organization epitomizing the blatant injustice and unfairness of the global order. It show cases the powerful few are dominating the weak majority, and how the poor are speechless and have no say even on matters that directly affect them and shape their future.
Last September the UN Chief has warned world leaders of his frustration saying "our world is becoming unhinged. Geo political tensions are rising. Global challenges are mounting. We seem incapable of coming together to respond. The world has changed, but our institutions [like UNSC, IMF WB] are not. We cannot effectively address problems as they are. If institutions do not reflect the world as it is, instead of solving the problem, they risk becoming part of the problem"
The lingering question about UN's and its institutions' strength as a neutral body and its organizational fitness for the 21 century world geo- politics has now been reignited. More than ever before, people are questioning if the UNSC would ever be capable achieving its goals of international peace and security. There are several other longstanding pressing issues that are challenging the impartiality, competence and structure of the UN, in general and its powerful unit, the Security Council, UNSC in particular .
For instance, UN Assembly has debated the question of equitable representation in the Security Council since 1979 and that not much has changed since then to adapt the institution to better reflect current realities. Thus UNSC membership composition has not made any meaningful change since the UN's establishment in October 1945 with 51 founding member states of which four were African countries including Ethiopia.
The situation of Africa's under representation in the UNSC, is a quintessential and stark display of the Council's unfairness and its marginalizing of the Global South nations affected by colonialism].Africa is the least represented continent given its membership share in UN and population size. In a recent statement he made at a gathering held here in Addis, the African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security said " Multilateralism cannot be what we see in the current composition of the UNSC. It is not inclusive, equitable, representative democratic; and it is not in any way reflecting the Global South."
The funny thing is that Africa, with all its 54 countries being members of the UN and thus accounting far more than a quarter of the organization's total membership, has no fair representation and equal say at the Security Council ,where the considerable portion of decision made are directly concerning Africa. A study report found that in 2020, Africa's peace and security issue made up more than 70% of UNSC resolutions, making it the most discussed continent in the council."
This figure may not be surprising given the fact most of the political crises and security issues that grab global attentions are happening in Africa. What is rather striking is why Africa is underrepresented in the global forum that discusses mainly African affairs. The figure also explains why it is important for Africa to have adequate presence in the UNSC.
The other hilarious thing is the UN ,established with the leadership of those powerful nations that describe themselves as champions democracy, is an undemocratic institution where its members have no equal voice and only five states out of 15 council member and 193 general assembly members has the veto power to control decision taken by the UNSC. In addition if one of the five permanent privileged members opposes a substantive draft resolution, then it will be discarded even if all the rest of the members support it.
The fact that only five powerful states were made to be permanent member of the UNSC may have an explanation based on the configuration of the global power balance at the period of its establishment. But now times have changed.
The over representation of Western countries in the Council does not reflect the geopolitical diversity of the United Nations nor the geopolitical realities of the twenty-first century. All African nations are now members of UN. The equilibrium of world power has significantly shifted to the East. The world has become multi-polar. Nations with formidable military power, including nuclear powers has proliferated. All these realities explain how obsolete the UNSC structure is and how urgently it should be restructured in tune with the present geo-political realities.
Africa, with AU[African Union] increasingly making a chorus of call for change ,and becoming self assertive, is beginning to chart its own course of journey to the future. Africa has now emerged as a major geo-political player, moving towards the epicenter of the international relations in the twenty first century. As a vibrant and dynamic continent, Africa today is now at the forefront of the numerous shared core challenges the world facing. These include terrorism, climate change, environmental pollution, poverty, drug and human trafficking etc.
UN critics say that the Council, UNSC, has been by large unable to address the most serious threats to international peace and security in a timely and effective manner. This is, they argue, because of the UN's reluctance to accept and adjust itself to the existing reality that the center of world politics is no longer Europe and North America. So now if UN wants to maintain its relevance in the 21st century, its reform plans must incorporate and cater to the demand for change by the developing word including Africa.
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African politicians and scholars are reiterating their calls to make the UNSC more representative, transparent and accountable in order to address the most serious threats to international peace and security. Notable African leaders like Ethiopia's premier Abiy Ahmed, South Africa's president Ramaphosa and others have made repeated bold statement on various international arena calling for fair representation of Africa in the UNSC.
And yet, it has to be underlined that Some African political analysts have strong doubt with the success of the bid for permanent seat at UNSC. They argue that, although Africa has legitimate reasons to demand for a permanent seat(s) on UNSC. However, since the inception of the UNSC, its permanent members enjoy comfortable status with their veto powers that they would arguably do everything within their means - politically and diplomatically to maintain the Status quo.
Nevertheless, Africans should strengthen their collective efforts for change through their regional organizational. History shows that when African countries unite and speak in unison, their demands are heard, say the scholars.
