Delegate urges Security Council reform, expansion and limits on veto at 80th anniversary

Speaker 1, a delegate, addressed the United Nations on the 80th anniversary of the Security Council and urged member states to expand the council’s membership, boost representation for Africa and the Asia Pacific, and consider curbing veto use.

The delegate opened with an anecdote about the council’s early history, saying that in 1946 “the first ballot box of the Security Council was opened for inspection before voting” and that a local mechanic named Paul Antonio left a note inside asking, “may I, who have had the privilege of fabricating this ballot box, cast the first votes. May God be with every member of the United Nations Organization, and, through your noble efforts, bring lasting peace to us all all over the world.”

The speaker said the anecdote “reminds us why the Security Council exists: for people, sincere, hopeful people who, for the last 8 decades, have placed their trust in this institution to save them from the scourge of war.” The delegate listed past Council contributions including assistance to Cambodia, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste and Liberia and said the Council has helped prevent a “great power war” for 80 years.

Still, the delegate warned that the council’s legitimacy is fragile, saying “too often, we have seen members of this body act outside the principles of the Charter,” and that when a nation “flocks the rules, others seek their license to do the same.” The speech called for correcting regional imbalances and said reform is both a matter of justice and practicality: “Almost half of all UN peacekeeping missions along with numerous special political missions take place in Africa. Yet Africa has no permanent voice at this table.”

The delegate also criticized underrepresentation of the Asia Pacific region, noting it is “home to more than half of humanity” but holds only one permanent Security Council seat, and said Latin America and the Caribbean likewise lack adequate representation.

On the veto, the speaker said they had “noted with interest the proposals of France and The United Kingdom to limit these exercises of the veto” and urged the chamber to examine those proposals. The delegate framed the Council’s purpose in human terms: “Security Council is not about hegemon and empires. It is about parents who have lost their children, refugees flung from their homes, soldiers who have sacrificed their limbs.”

The address concluded with a call for openness and renewed purpose: “The time has come to open the doors of the chamber and let it in the light,” the delegate said, urging member states to build a body “that can meet the challenges of the next 80 years, that delivers justice and safety for all.” No formal proposals or votes were recorded in the transcript of this address.

The remarks were framed as an appeal to member states rather than as a record of any specific negotiation or change in Council procedure.