Time to review the UN

CAPTAIN’S CORNER BY CAPTAIN MAHMOOD AL MAHMOOD

The world is being torn by countries pitched in battle, by natural disasters perpetuated by humankind’s carelessness towards Nature and the world around us, by population explosion, food insecurity and many more problems.

Whom do we turn to in order to construct a response to these troubles?

None other than the flawed but united global entity, the UN. A platform for all the countries of the world and one which, despite many failures and enemies, internal and external, has notched up genuine success in making the world a better place.

But the fact is that the UN was created just after WW2 and the world has changed tremendously since those days.

Today we are facing vastly different challenges which require a different participation to address a new world that needs new ideas and new representation. Enter the MENA region.

When WW2 was fought and the winners declared, the impact of fossil fuels was yet to be completely understood. Hence the Middle East was not given its rightful place at the UN table.

North Africa – indeed, Africa as a whole – was still reeling under the trauma of colonialism and was easily susceptible to tokenism and dismissed.

Now the scenario is different. The world’s progress is timed to the pulse of oil wells and gas deposits in the MidEast and Africa is emerging as the fertile continent of the future, representing a dynamic force in shaping the progress of mankind.

Is it not time then that the Arab and African representation on the Permanent Security Council of the UN is reviewed and made more inclusive?

The winds of change are blowing as Ambassador Jamal Fares Al Rowaiei, Bahrain’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in New York stated last week.

It is time that the UN expanded the Security Council and ensured representation of the New World that the global body serves. World peace and security cannot be decided without as close to a fair and genuine decision-making process as possible.

Reform of the UN is the life-blood of the organization and the only way to keep it relevant and non-fossilised. An expanded Arab role represents an inclusive and future-forward way to heal the world. The social media platform has more than 22 million users in Brazil. KNOW BETTER