The United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, has once again called for inclusion of Africa as permanent member of the UN Security Council, describing the continent’s continued exclusion as “indefensible.”

The Secretary General made the call on Saturday at the 39th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, Guterres stated that conflicts in Africa are compounded by multiple actors and interests.

“The Security Council must reflect today’s world. This is 2026, not 1946. Whenever decisions about Africa and the world are on the table, Africa must be at the table,” he wrote.

The statement adds fresh momentum to the long-standing demands for UN Security Council reform, which currently has five permanent members — the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia, all of whom hold veto powers.

The UN chief has repeatedly noted that Africa is often the subject of Security Council resolutions on peacekeeping, conflict resolution, and sanctions, yet remains excluded from permanent decision-making authority.

Africa, comprising 54 countries and nearly one-third of UN member states, currently has no permanent representation on the Council.

The Security Council – the five permanent members of which are China, France, Russia, the UK and the US – has long been criticized for representing the realities that prevailed at the end of World War Two when much of Africa was still under colonial rule.

MG/gik//APA