As UN chief calls for unity, is Security Council still fit for purpose?

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00:00There are 193 members of the United Nations, but only five permanent members of the Security

00:06Council who have the power to veto.

00:09It's a reality which powerful states on the African continent are calling unsustainable.

00:13Africa and its 1.4 billion people remain excluded from its key decision-making structures.

00:24This cannot continue.

00:26The Security Council is viewed by many as elitist and ineffective.

00:30The right to veto, often used by Russia, China and the United States, tends to paralyze the

00:35body, something Ukraine's president alluded to when he addressed world leaders on Wednesday.

00:40Unfortunately, at the UN, it's impossible to truly and fairly resolve matters of war

00:47and peace because too much, too much depends in the Security Council on the veto power.

00:54Expanding the UN Security Council could mean going from five to 11 permanent members.

00:59It's a plan put forward by France and supported by the United States, which would see the

01:04addition of Japan, India, Germany, Brazil and two African nations.

01:08However, Washington has ruled out the idea of granting new members a veto.

01:13Paris meanwhile is eager to float new ideas on conditioning the right to block motion.

01:20I also hope this reform changes the manner in which things are done, to restrict the

01:24veto in case of mass crimes being committed and to concentrate decisions which are necessary

01:30to maintain peace and international security.

01:35Reforming the Security Council will first need to see the UN Charter modified.

01:39It would require all five permanent members signing off on the amendment, an outcome which

01:44legal experts deem unlikely.

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