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Young people in Senegal: The Global South wants more influence

Photo: Carmen Abd Ali / Domestic / DER SPIEGEL

SPIEGEL:

You just gave a lecture to students in Nairobi.

What are the young people like?

Francis:

The younger generation believes that Africa has been ignored and marginalized for too long.

They are convinced that the Global South must play a greater role in the United Nations and be permanently represented in the Security Council.

SPIEGEL

: Is that your opinion too?

Francis:

This matter is currently being discussed among delegates, formal negotiations have not yet begun.

It is not appropriate for me as President of the General Assembly to take a position on this.

My job is to facilitate open and fair negotiations.

But I think there is now widespread agreement that the Global South should be represented, and that Africa, with its large population, must be at the table of permanent members of the Security Council.

The countries of the Global North are now also realizing this.

SPIEGEL:

Are the balance of power between the Global South and the Global North shifting?

Francis:

The world of 1945 is not the world of 2024. Countries like China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Singapore or Malaysia - states from the Global South, are now claiming influence on the world stage.

Power is shifting from the Global North to the Global South.

We don't yet know what the outcome will be.

That's what makes the current situation so difficult because it's unfamiliar and creates uncertainty.

The system will be different, that's for sure.

But one fundamental principle remains: we must maintain peace and security.

This is necessary to enable sustainable development.

But the events of the recent past are making it difficult for us.

It started with the pandemic, from which we have still not fully recovered.

And then there are these wars.

SPIEGEL:

Are you talking about the wars in Gaza and Ukraine?

Francis:

Yes,

These wars really worry me, they worry the entire international community.

Look at the war in Ukraine: Russia – a member of the UN Security Council that is supposed to be the guardian of peace and security – has violated international law in the most egregious way, setting an extremely dangerous precedent.

We can not permit that.

The United Nations has taken a clear position and is calling for an end to this senseless war in Ukraine.

In the case of Gaza, we must make peace at the negotiating table.

We can end this war.

30,000 innocent civilians lost their lives, especially women and children.

This is a terrible situation.

We must ensure that the bloodshed stops and the people of Gaza can receive humanitarian care.

I call on Israel to end the war, conclude a ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

SPIEGEL:

You can demand that,

But the real power in the UN system lies with a small group of veto powers in the Security Council.

Francis:

That's basically true, at least as far as peace and security is concerned.

Nevertheless, the Security Council is only one of three cornerstones of the UN.

There is also us, the General Assembly.

When there is a blockage in the Security Council, as was the case with Gaza, everyone panics and says that the UN itself has failed.

But when the Security Council failed to agree on a position on Gaza, the General Assembly took up the issue.

We quickly and decisively adopted two resolutions on Gaza that were very clearly worded.

And for about two years we have been doing something else: we are summoning the countries that veto Security Council resolutions.

They should then explain their motives to the general assembly.

We hope that in the end this will prevent states from continuing to use their veto rights in the Security Council based solely on their own interests or arbitrarily.

SPIEGEL:

Have the wars in Ukraine and Gaza widened the gap between the Global South and the Global North?

Both sides view these conflicts very differently: The Global South tends to support the Palestinians, and many countries in Africa and Latin America also sympathize with Russia.

Francis:

I think the problem is different: When the war in Ukraine started, the important UN institutions focused all their attention on this conflict.

In doing so, we have lost sight of the important concerns of the Global South.

That doesn't exactly inspire trust.

Let's be honest, there are also conflicts in the Global South that get significantly less attention.

It is even more important not to neglect the goal of sustainable development, the fight against poverty and hunger.

But if developing countries feel that their problems are secondary to those of the Global North, then it is not really surprising that they are disappointed and angry.

SPIEGEL:

What needs to change?

Francis:

On the one hand, there is a lack of political will: the commitments to implement the sustainable development goals have not been sufficiently adhered to.

The same applies to climate financing; a lot is still unclear.

We urgently need to do better here.

The longer we tolerate such undesirable developments, the more complicated the situation will become and the higher the costs will ultimately be - and the disappointment in the Global South.

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