UNGA chief Khalilur Rahman pushes meaningful Security Council reform

Taking charge of the 81st UN General Assembly session, Khalilur Rahman called for meaningful reform of the world body and its Security Council. He said only deeper, credible change can restore public trust and prepare the UN for the future.

In Short

• Rahman took charge as President of the 81st General Assembly session
• He said routine tweaks would not address the organisation’s trust deficit
• Rahman backed António Guterres’ UN80 plan for a simpler UN system

United Nations General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman has called for “meaningful” reforms of the world body, especially its Security Council, saying the changes must help the UN regain public trust and become “fit for the future”. He made the remarks after taking charge as President of the 81st session of the General Assembly on Tuesday.

Responding to a question from PTI at a media briefing, Rahman said he took the issue of reform “very, very seriously” and stressed that changes at the UN could not be treated as minor or routine. He also said he would continue to back UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ UN80 initiative to make the UN system simpler, more effective and more coherent.

“Reforms must be meaningful. These reforms must help regain the trust of this organisation in the eyes of the public. Unless that happens, reform will be regarded as marginal or perfunctory. I take this reform very, very seriously,” he said.

Rahman, who is also Bangladesh’s foreign minister, said the organisation needed deeper reform as trust in it was in short supply. “We have a situation where trust is in deficit, and the organisation must undertake deeper reform in order to make it fit for the future, not only today, for tomorrow. This is not 1945. We are not doing the San Francisco conference,” he said, referring to the event at which the UN Charter was agreed.

He said the world had changed and the UN had to change with it. “The world has moved on. The organisation must move on, and I’ll help that process,” Rahman told reporters, noting that the world was in the 21st century while the UN itself was more than 80 years old.

The UNGA president also said he would place a high premium on cooperation and dialogue as the organisation dealt with challenges and opportunities. “I’m not naive to think that everything can be resolved quickly, amicably. There are things that will stay unresolved. There are things that we might take time to find solutions. That’s fine. But that should not stop us from seeking common ground wherever we can,” he said.

Rahman was elected in June as President of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, which began at the UN headquarters on Tuesday. He succeeded former German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, and began his term by underlining the need for deeper, credible reform at the UN.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends