South African President Cyril Ramaphosa wants the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) “urgently reformed” so it can credibly and effectively meet its mandate.

Ramaphosa is quoted by government news agency SAnews as saying Africa, with a population of 1.3 billion, does not have permanent representation on the UN Security Council. He spoke at a high-level dialogue on global development on the sidelines of the 2022 BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Leaders’ Summit, hosted by China ahead of attending the currently underway G7 summit in Germany.

“As like-minded emerging market countries, we need to move from a common vision of an emerging international order to a common programme of change. We must be committed to shaping our own institutions to support growth and development of emerging economies.

“Our vision has been to harness our common vision and resources to improve the lives of our people through mutually beneficial co-operation and actively shape the world to benefit the Global South,” he said.

The president called on BRICS to approach co-operation with a spirit of openness and solidarity, with an intention of finding mutual interests and building common values.

“We have the potential to leverage our combined economic strength to drive a sustainable global economic recovery. It is up to us, as emerging and developing economies, to put the global South on a new trajectory of progress, prosperity and self-reliance and shape an inclusive and equitable international order,” Ramaphosa said.

This is an opportunity to move from solidarity to collective action for the benefit of all countries’ peoples. The President also expressed his appreciation to the BRICS chair for continuing the bloc’s tradition of meaningful engagement with like-minded emerging markets and developing economies.

“We share a desire for increased representation and a progressive perspective in global governance institutions. We share a common history of struggle against imperialism, colonialism, exploitation and continued underdevelopment.

“Our ties of solidarity were forged at the Bandung Conference in 1955, which culminated in the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM),” he said.

President Ramaphosa emphasised the summit remains the template for South-South co-operation and solidarity.

“Less than a decade ago, the world united in a historic decision on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“We recognised eradicating poverty was the greatest global challenge of our time. We committed ourselves to a common agenda for humanity that would see us collectively address climate change, conflict, poverty and insecurity,” the President said.

The Covid-19 pandemic revealed further inter-connectedness and exposed countries’ shared vulnerability according to Ramaphosa. On Ukraine he said the conflict there exposed fault-lines in the international order.

“Urgent global issues like Covid-19, poverty, inequality, climate change and the broader sustainable development agenda have been eclipsed by the conflict. We must safeguard the principle of multilateralism. We need a United Nations (UN) that is fit-for-purpose and clear in its benefits to all humanity, especially in times of insecurity and crises,” the President said.

The government news agency has Ramaphosa calling on nations to promote international peace and security by advocating inclusive dialogue and peaceful settlement of disputes.

• A Tell report