United Nations 'paralyzed' in face of challenges: UN General Assembly president

NEW YORK (AA) - The UN Security Council has not fulfilled its duty to maintain international peace and security, the president of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly said Thursday.

The remarks by Dennis Francis came during a session on council reform at the United Nations General Assembly in which he pointed out that conflicts and wars continue to spread in many parts of the world.

Francis added that the UN is "paralyzed" in confronting these challenges due to divisions within the UN Security Council.

"During this major transformation, the UN Security Council remains dangerously unable to fulfill its basic duty to maintain international peace and security," he said.

Francis stressed that the reliability of the entire United Nations, not just the Security Council, would be in doubt if structural reform was not implemented in the Council.