UN chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday (September 22, 2026) delivered a powerful clarion call to global leaders to reform the UN Security Council to ensure that it reflects today’s world and has the legitimacy to deal with current geopolitical challenges.
This is the final high-level UN General Assembly week for Secretary General Guterres, whose second five-year tenure as head of the United Nations ends in December 2026. After ending his nearly 35-minute and final address, Mr. Guterres to reform the 15-nation body was among the strongest by him as the powerful UN organ remains deeply divided and polarised, failing to stop conflicts and fulfil its responsibilities of maintaining international peace and security. India has been at the forefront of years-long efforts to reform the Security Council, including expansion in both its permanent and non-permanent categories, saying the 15-nation Council, founded in 1945, is not fit for purpose in the 21st Century and does not reflect contemporary geopolitical realities. India is vying for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for the 2028–29 term, elections for which will be held in June next year. ALSO WATCH Watch: UN General Assembly 2026: World leaders gather amid global conflicts
Mr. A change that is far from reflected in the Security Council. “When the UN was founded, most of Africa was still under colonial rule. A 21st-century Security Council without permanent African representation is unjust and indefensible. Guterres received a standing ovation from world leaders, Foreign Ministers, Ambassadors and diplomats and senior UN officials as he exited the podium. “…Our institutions and systems of global governance continue to reflect the power realities and interests of a largely bygone age. That is the defining challenge before us. The call by Mr. With sharp divisions among its five permanent, veto-wielding members — China, France, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S. — the Council has remained ineffective as conflicts rage from Gaza to Russia. Delhi has consistently underscored that it rightly deserves a permanent seat at the horse-shoe table. As he addressed world leaders gathered in the iconic UNGA hall, Guterres voiced concern over deepened geopolitical divides, intensified inequalities and frayed trust. Mr. Guterres emphasised that “we are clearly moving towards a multipolar world. And that movement is irreversible,” but cautioned that there are different ways that multipolarity can take shape. “One possibility is a world of fragmentation and transactionalism. A world of rising tensions and deepening mistrust. Of fractured markets and weakened institutions. Of shrinking cooperation and zero-sum calculations. He also showed the international community the possibility of another path that goes towards networked multipolarity. “A world built on interdependence – and sustained by a dense web of economic, political, social and technological connections. Mr. Of course, competition will remain a permanent feature of international relations.
“We must also reform the Security Council so that it reflects today’s world with the legitimacy and effectiveness that today’s challenges demand,” Mr. Guterres told world leaders in his address to the opening of the General Debate at the 81st session of the General Assembly. Guterres, delivering his last address to the high-level UNGA debate as UN Chief, said the Security Council was designed in the aftermath of World War II. He said the “most stunning example” of this is Africa. This must change,” he said, to applause from the leaders in the UNGA hall. At the very moment when humanity faces an unprecedented convergence of threats, our mechanisms for collective action are under growing strain,” he said. Guterres said that at a time when new centres of economic, political and technological influence have emerged, and humans are increasingly handing over power to machines, “our institutions and systems of global governance continue to reflect the power realities and interests of a largely bygone age. Interview | The Security Council is paralysed, but the UN is not broken, says Guterres Mr. A world in which multiple centres of influence coexist within a common framework of international law and shared rules,” he said. Guterres said such a world could help avoid hegemonic tendencies and what he described as the “Great Fracture: The division of the world into two rival blocs with separate economic, technological and security systems. But competition does not mean confrontation,” he said.
“But the world has fundamentally changed since then. Today, Africa still has no permanent seat on the Council. In many respects, that is the trajectory we are on today,” he said. “A networked world recognises that no power can solve today’s challenges alone.
Strong, effective institutions that reflect the realities and the progressively changing relative weight of countries and economies in today’s world – not the power arrangements of 80 years ago,” he said. Noting that healthy competition can drive innovation, strengthen resilience, and expand opportunity, Mr. “Their power has limits. The events of recent years have made that unmistakably clear. Military power alone cannot secure peace. Economic power alone cannot command stability. And technological power alone cannot guarantee security. “A networked multipolar world can create the conditions for more balanced and representative global problem-solving. But it requires a multilateral system centred in the UN that is balanced and representative. PTI YAS RD RD
Guterres said building such a future begins with a recognition, especially by superpowers that their power isn’t so super.
