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Former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has called for the reform and democratisation of the United Nations in order to make it more representative and responsive to global security challenges.
Jonathan made the call yesterday, while presenting his remarks at the opening panel of the Dialogue of Civilisations Rhodes Forum’s 15th Anniversary Summit in Greece. Jonathan, who was the lead discussant, stressed that the UN Security Council should be expanded to ensure representations from all regions and power centres in the world, adding that the UN dialogue method must also change to guarantee a more peaceful world. Other members of the panel were former French Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin; former President of Mali, Dioncounda Traore, Professor of globalisation, Ian Goldin and President of Infowatch Group, Natalya Kaspersky.
A statement issued by Dr. Jonathan’s media adviser, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze, quoted the ex-president as saying: “For the world to experience sustainable peace, effective leadership must come from the UN, the flagship of global organisations. The UN that would inspire this kind of leadership should ensure equity, with leading nations and power centres representing different regions of the world, sitting at the Security Council as permanent members. “The UN dialogue method must, therefore, change. The Security Council of the United Nations must be democratised, in view of new global realities, in the interest of peace.” He further noted that as currently constituted, “the UN is portrayed as a platform where nations come to quarrel and display their might, instead of its statutory role, as a forum for unity and world peace. “In terms of carrying out the mandate of preventing a Third World War, we could say the UN has done exceptionally well up to this moment. However, we cannot say the same thing over its mandate of ensuring world peace, as it is obvious that the UN has not achieved much in this regard. From 1945, when 51 nations came together and now that the UN has 193 member states, the world has not known real peace.
“The truth is that despite decades of efforts at the multinational level towards ensuring peace, the world has remained mired in developmental challenges that question man’s ability to govern, collaborate, unite and make his world better. Those are challenges of poverty, healthcare, inequality and conflicts.” This is because the world has not matched this zeal for organisation with a corresponding gusto for trust, good faith and the conscience for productive engagements, negotiations and dialogue. “So, when I am asked to proffer solutions for achieving global peace and sustainable development, I will say that the answer lies in genuine dialogue. This entails negotiations, hard bargaining, inclusivity, persuasion and confidence building”.
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