August 12, 2024
Thank you, Mr. President. Let me start by thanking you for being here with us today, and for your leadership in organizing this critical debate, the first ever in the Security Council. I would also like to thank Secretary-General Guterres, President Francis, and our civil society briefer, Ms. Mbete, for bringing their invaluable perspectives to the table.
Colleagues, it has been nearly eight decades since the Council first met. And its architects couldn’t have imagined then what the world would look like today, as we can’t imagine what it might look like 70 years from now. How demographics would shift. What global challenges would emerge. Which international powers would rise up. The earliest beginnings of this body were just that: they were the beginning.
Now, it is upon all of us, all members of the United Nations, to chart the future for the next generation. To refine, reform, recalibrate – and as my U.K. neighbor reminded me last night – to strengthen this body. To ensure the Council is more fit for purpose and reflects the realities of today.
And that includes ensuring that people across Africa are effectively represented here in the Security Council, in this chamber.
Of course, as you’ve heard, this is long overdue. Already home to over 1.2 billion people, half of whom are under the age of 19, Africa has the fastest growing population of any continent. By 2050, one in four people on the planet will be African.
And here’s what we know: African countries have long played – and continue to play – a critical role in strengthening peace and security, in Africa and across the globe.
These countries have advanced this work through their leadership on this Council. Through their outsized contributions to peacekeeping missions. Through their leadership on climate, on food security, on gender, on Youth, Peace, and Security. And through their efforts to resolve conflicts, including those on the other side of the world.
And in that vein, I want to recognize Kenya’s contributions to the Multilateral Security Support Mission to combat gangs in Haiti – showing that Africa’s leadership on this Council is not just about Africa, but about the world. And that Africa’s problems are not Africa’s alone to deal with.
And so, when we talk about reforming this Council, strengthening this Council, we do so not just for the good of African nations, but to further international peace and security for us all. Because we all benefit when African leaders are at the table.
And so, as President Biden announced during the UN General Assembly two years ago, and reaffirmed last year, the United States supports permanent representation on the Council for countries from Africa, as well as Latin America, and the Caribbean. Permanent representation.
Since that announcement, I have met with leaders from around the world to hear their perspectives on Security Council reform. Our approaches and ideas are often different, but we agree on one thing, and we agree on what the problem is, and we agree on what the goals are. So, dialogue is critical. It is the only way to advance an issue that has been “stuck” for far too long.
For our part, the United States is advocating for language in the Pact for the Future that supports increasing both permanent and non-permanent seats on the Security Council. And we will push to ensure that the Summit of the Future is a platform for meaningful progress, one that creates a pathway for urgent action on Security Council reform. At the Summit and beyond, we will keep working to achieve Council reform.
As we work toward that goal, we must also pursue every other avenue we can to ensure effective UN action, to prevent and respond to security threats on the African continent, and around the globe.
In Sudan, and Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gaza, Ukraine – the list could, unfortunately, go on and on – violence continues to uproot lives and destroy livelihoods. To exacerbate food insecurity and re-entrench gender inequality. To repeat dark chapters of history.
We need stronger, faster, and more effective action from the Security Council to put an end to this violence. And that is why the United States fully supported the adoption of Resolution 2719, creating a framework for the use of UN-assessed contributions for African Union-led peace support operations.
This landmark resolution, adopted under the leadership of the A3, creates opportunities to strengthen UN-AU partnerships, and to ensure that the UN is responsive to security needs on the continent. We will continue to work closely with our colleagues here in New York and in Addis to operationalize this new arrangement.
Colleagues, we must also fight against any attempt to undermine Council action in support of Africa. Just look at the threats facing various Panels of Experts. These Panels are critical UN tools that provide Security Council members with credible, timely, and detailed information about security threats.
And yet, as of late, some on this Council have tried to wind down or obstruct these Panels of Experts, particularly in Africa. It is imperative that we push back against these efforts to weaken our understanding of security dynamics in Africa and around the world.
As many of you know, I spent a good part of my life, my career, living and working on the continent of Africa. Engaging with people on the continent. Doing my part to further peace and security, support refugees in the countries who host them, human rights and development. And observing, up close, the ways in which Africa, it’s people and countries, are stepping up to lead.
And as I sit here, representing the United States at the United Nations, I carry those life experiences with me, fueling my own commitment to making this Council more representative and more effective.
So, let’s stop admiring the problem here. We need to move to solutions.
Today, 15 of us sit around this table and it is my hope that the number grows to include permanent seats for Africa, Latin America, and others. And that, in so doing, we are better equipped to live up to the mandate, our mandate, to prevent the scourge of war and advance peace and security for future generations.
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you to Sierra Leone for bringing this important subject to this chamber.