UN offers a seat for all international locations, says UNGA Prez in swipe at Board of Peace
The United Nations alone can guarantee world peace and safety regardless of its shortcomings as a result of it offers a seat on the desk for each massive and small international locations, not like the US-led Board of Peace, which may be joined solely by paying a payment, UN Basic Meeting President Annalena Baerbock mentioned on Tuesday.
Baerbock, who served as Germany’s overseas minister from 2021 to 2025, is visiting India for discussions with the nation’s management on reforming the UN system and addressing crises such because the battle in Ukraine and the West Asia battle. She met exterior affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday.
Member states of the UN are free to organise themselves in numerous teams, such because the G20 or different regional and worldwide organisations however solely the UN is liable for worldwide peace and safety “as a result of each nation – regardless of how massive or small, how highly effective or wealthy – has a seat on the desk”, Baerbock informed a information convention.
“As a result of you’ll not discover a simply peace for anyone on the planet if you need to pay [a] payment to affix it or for those who negotiate how a lot energy you have got,” she mentioned in reference to the Board of Peace, which was created by US President Donald Trump final yr as a part of efforts to finish the battle in Gaza.
Whereas the function of the UN has been questioned in some quarters, the battle in West Asia has highlighted the UN’s expertise in ceasefire negotiations, Baerbock argued. “To discover a simply, honest and lasting peace, it wants a transparent dedication to the equality and sovereignty of each nation,” she mentioned.
Baerbock backed all efforts to finish the West Asia battle, saying the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has affected all elements of the world by driving up costs of power and fertilisers. “It overshadows the devastating state of affairs for the individuals in Gaza. The humanitarian state of affairs in Gaza continues to be heartbreaking. We’re seeing 1.3 million individuals being displaced in Lebanon. We’ve got seen assaults on peacekeepers in Lebanon,” she mentioned.
Equality between international locations relies on the UN Constitution and the Common Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN is a singular place the place all international locations come collectively to search out options to world issues, she mentioned. No nation, no matter its measurement or power, can deal with right this moment’s complicated world challenges – similar to local weather change, world pandemics, and the financial influence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine or the closing of the Strait of Hormuz – by itself, she added.
At a time when complying with worldwide regulation and delivering on the Sustainable Improvement Targets (SDGs) just isn’t optionally available, the UN Constitution is “our widespread life insurance coverage”, Baerbock mentioned. Apart from calling for a cross-regional alliance to help multilateralism and the UN, she mentioned India’s “continued management and partnership for multilateralism is central in these instances”.
Baerbock additionally acknowledged the urgent must reform the UN, particularly to extend its effectivity and to keep away from duplication. “Whereas the UN is indispensable, it has to reform itself to be extra environment friendly, extra agile and keep away from duplication, to higher ship on the bottom and meet the challenges of the twenty first century and past,” she mentioned.
