Mbeki: SA will help change UN

2005-06-08 12:36

Johannesburg - South Africa will play its part in reforming the United Nations, President Thabo Mbeki said in Chile on Tuesday.

"We are aware that the secretary-general has initiated bold moves to revitalise and democratise the United Nations and ... we will play our part to ensure that we transform this world body to be a true representative of all the peoples of the world," he said.

Mbeki was speaking in Santiago in Chile on receiving an honorary degree from the Salon de Diputados.

UN secretary-general Kofi Annan in March proposed an overhaul of the world body, including an increase in the number of seats of the Security Council to 24 from the present 15.

African countries want two permanent seats on the UN Security Council with South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt lobbying for those positions.

Mbeki said the UN had been ineffective because of the disparities in power between poor and rich countries.

"It is also true that while the United Nations has always had the potential to be a 'new seat of power', this has not been possible because of the structural fault in the international system of governance.

"Indeed the question should be asked as to who represents the poor globally?"

Mbeki said developing nations, such as South Africa and Chile, and their respective regional bodies, the African Union and the Community of South American Nations, should strengthen their ties in response to this disproportionate power.

- SAPA