New vision a must for colonial, archaic UN Security Council: Oxfam chief

By Leila Nezirevic

LONDON (AA) – The current UN system is “paralyzed, dysfunctional and ineffective,” and in dire need of a complete revamp to make it “fit for purpose for today’s reality,” according to the head of Oxfam International.

Ahead of the ongoing UN General Assembly session in New York, the anti-poverty confederation released a report emphasizing the need for immediate reforms to the UN and its organs, particularly the Security Council.

“Oxfam is extremely clear that you cannot continue with this colonial, archaic Security Council. We need a reboot of the Security Council. We must ensure that we have a Security Council which is inclusive, equal, effective and responsive,” Amitabh Behar, executive director of Oxfam International, told Anadolu.

He said the five permanent member states – the US, UK, France, China and Russia – took responsibility for global security in what is now “a bygone colonial age.”

“We need a new vision for a UN system that meets its original ambitions and made fit for purpose for today’s reality. A council that works for the global majority not a powerful few. This starts with renouncing the veto and pen-holding privilege of the P5 and expanding membership to more countries,” he said.

According to Behar, the Security Council has failed millions of people as a few powerful nations “abused their veto” and other privileges for their own interests.

“In a sense, the finding is that the Security Council is not fit for purpose, and we are seeing the global security and peace architecture in shambles,” he said.

“It’s paralyzed, it’s dysfunctional, it’s ineffective, and it’s essentially happening because of the continued colonial character, and the inequality within Security Council.”

The Oxfam report highlights “how the Security Council has not been able to play the role that it was supposed to play, of being an instrument of peace and security,” he added.

“What we are also asking is that it is critical that the pen-holder power within the Security Council must be democratized. You cannot continue to have the P5, who also hold the nuclear button, have all the power of drafting and tabling resolutions,” he said.

- US abusing veto to protect Israel

Emphasizing the urgent need for a cease-fire in Gaza and ending Israel’s impunity, Behar said the US has used its veto power to essentially defend “the interests of Israel.”

Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza has killed and wounded nearly 138,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Over almost a year now, Israel, which stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), has devastated vast tracts of Gaza and imposed a crippling blockade on food, water, medicine and all essentials.

Over the last decade, according to Oxfam, the UN General Assembly has passed at least 77 resolutions supporting Palestinian self-determination and human rights and an end to Israel’s illegal occupation, but the US has used its veto power to protect its ally, Israel.

The US vetoes have created “a permissive environment for Israel to expand illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory with impunity,” said Behar.

“More often than not the Security Council permanent members’ vetoes have contradicted the will of the UN General Assembly, in which all states are represented,” he added.

- Need for ‘fundamental change at the very top’

According to the Oxfam report, France and the UK have not used their veto in the last decade, but along with the US, they “have held the pen on two-thirds of resolutions” relating to 23 protracted crises around the world.

“The UK holds the pen on Yemen, for example, where it has a colonial legacy and strategic interests to maintain the maritime routes. In 2023, Mali objected to French pen-holding given what it considered ‘acts of aggression and destabilization’ there,” read the report.

The report noted that many other initiatives are not even written up or tabled because they would inevitably be vetoed.

According to the report, more than 1 million people have been killed in the 23 conflicts alone, and over 230 million people are in urgent need of aid, an increase of over 150% since 2015.

“The erratic and self-interested behavior of UN Security Council members has contributed to an explosion of humanitarian needs that is now outpacing humanitarian organizations’ ability to respond,” said Behar.

“This demands a fundamental change of our international security architecture at the very top.”