At BRICS summit, UN chief calls for reform of UN Security Council, World Bank, IMF

Speaking for the first time at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday (Aug 24) made a strong case for the reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and sought revision of the Bretton Woods system—a global financial architecture created by the US-led West after the end of World War II.

Guterres said that “today's global governance structures reflect yesterday's world" and that for multilateral institutions to be universal they needed reform.

"They were largely created in the aftermath of World War II when many African countries were still ruled by colonial powers and were not even at the table," Guterres said in remarks on the final day of the BRICS summit.

"This is particularly true of the Security Council of the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions," he said, referring to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

'World changed, and so must global governance'

“The world has changed and so global governance must change with it. It must represent today's power and economic relations and not the power and economic relations of 1945. That is why I have been advocating deep reforms to make global frameworks truly universal and representative of today's realities," Guterres said.

Guterres, however, pointed out that multipolarity alone cannot ensure a peaceful and just status quo. He called for robust and effective multilateral institutions to support this shift.

Drawing parallels, he highlighted the lessons from the early 20th century when Europe's multipolarity without strong multilateral mechanisms contributed to the start of the First World War.

The UN chief warned that without such reforms, fragmentation becomes inevitable.

"We cannot afford a world with a divided global economy and financial system; with diverging strategies on technology including artificial intelligence; and with conflicting security frameworks," he said.

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Global institutions need to be more inclusive

He said that global institutions need to be inclusive at “every level” and provide a platform for greater representation of women and young people.

“But all these in the context in which I believe two areas require a particularly important reform effort. One is the Security Council, the second, the Bretton Woods system..."

Guterres was echoing the views of BRICS members who, in their joint statement, called for urgent reform of the UNSC to make it more democratic, representative, effective, and efficient, and to increase the representation of developing countries.

“We support a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council, with a view to making it more democratic, representative, effective and efficient, and to increase the representation of developing countries in the Council’s memberships so that it can adequately respond to prevailing global challenges and support the legitimate aspirations of emerging and developing countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Brazil, India and South Africa, to play a greater role in international affairs, in particular in the United Nations, including its Security Council,” the joint statement read.

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