State of world getting worse as UN Security Council paralysed: Guterres
The state of the world “is getting worse” as wars multiply and become more complex, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has said, warning that growing geopolitical divides have paralysed the Security Council and leave the most vulnerable “in very dramatic situations”.
In a wide-ranging interview with Al Jazeera on Monday, the eve of his final address as secretary-general to the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Guterres discussed the major military conflicts happening in the world and whether the UN is still relevant in addressing today’s challenges.
Guterres said the involvement of “superpowers” and key council members in the wars has created a crisis due to the continued violations of international law.
“That creates an environment of impunity, in which midsize powers believe that they can do whatever they want because nothing will happen to them,” Guterres said.
The UN chief outlined the real-life impacts that the Russia-Ukraine war and the US-Israel war on Iran are having on people, particularly around food accessibility, rising fuel prices and global inflation.
“The combination of the war in Ukraine with the problems of exports of foods, fertilisers, and energy through the Black Sea, if you combine it with the difficulties in the Strait of Hormuz [in the Gulf], in the Bab al-Mandeb [in the Red Sea], and in the attacks [on] oil installations in several countries of the [Middle East] region, we are creating a situation that has a devastating impact on many economies around the world,” Guterres said.
Dire need for reforms
Guterres, who previously served as prime minister of Portugal and UN high commissioner for refugees, has been the UN chief since January 1, 2017, though his mandate is coming to an end on December 31, 2026.
His successor, who is yet to be named, will take charge of an organisation that is grappling with multiple crises and is, in Guterres’s opinion, in dire need of reforms to stay relevant and important on the global stage.
