General Assembly President prioritizes overhaul as UN turns 80

UN reform is one of the top priorities for Philémon Yang, elected President of the General Assembly during the UN’s eightieth year. In an interview with UN News, Mr. Yang, the former Prime Minister of Cameroon, also revealed a particular concern for the challenges faced by African countries, and the need to bridge the development divide between the Global South and the developed world.

The interview took place shortly after a Security Council meeting on combating terrorism in Africa, at which Amina Mohammed, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, described the continent – which accounts for 59 per cent of all terrorism-related deaths worldwide – as “the epicentre of global terrorism.” Mr. Yang has suggested that one answer could be the deployment of peace operations run by the African Union, a regional organization, and funded by the United Nations. UN News began by asking him why he favours this model.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Philémon Yang: The Charter of the United Nations foresees that regional organizations or subregional organizations may be given a specific mission, and one of these regional organizations is the African Union, which is capable of leading peace missions.

I am convinced that, where there are complicated issues of peace in Africa, the African Union, which understands a lot of the issues very well, could be given the authority, the authorization and the United Nations funding to carry out such a mission.

These missions are not yet well established, but I’m convinced that if the UN Security Council gives confidence to the African Union, many, many things could be done the right way in future.

UN News: How do you think Africa can close what we’ve called the digital divide [the relative lack of digital technology in Africa]?

Philémon Yang: The possession of a computer, a smartphone or access to the internet is linked to development. The Pact for the Future [a blueprint for a better future adopted by UN Member States in 2024] makes a specific reference to Africa.

The Timbuktoo Initiative from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is meant to reduce the gap, by helping African countries develop the digital processes faster than they have done in the past. We need this to work because if we don’t reduce the divide, then a lot of young people in Africa won’t have the opportunity to develop.

UN News: You’ve called the General Assembly “the great baobab tree under which nations harmonize their views”. You’re planning to organize “palaver tree dialogues”. How will they work?

Philémon Yang: The idea is not completely new. My predecessors convened informal, unscripted dialogues, simple conversations without written speeches, without written remarks. In Africa, palaver trees are where people sit and talk freely. They raise questions which concern them and, very often, they are under no obligation to find a solution immediately.

The discussions are relaxed, which helps to bring about productive discourse. Through this approach we could build a sense of trust and confidence between countries.

UN News: Many African countries are dealing with huge financial problems, such as debt repayments and high interest rates, which are hampering development. You’re organizing a meeting with the Inter-Parliamentary Union on reform of the international financial architecture. What do you want to achieve?

Philémon Yang: We need to adapt the behaviour and practices of international financial institutions to the modern world.

After the Second World War, the United States Government created the Marshall Plan, which brought a lot of financial aid to Western Europe. That worked very well. If you had to bring back the Marshall Plan today, you would have to adapt it to changing circumstances.

Reforming the international financial architecture is key to us, and we look forward to an opportunity to discuss this with the Inter-Parliamentary Union, but also at the Financing for Development Conference in June. Reform will make it easier for the world to keep developing and traveling forwards into the future.

UN News: To what extent is the UN, this 80-year-old institution, still relevant?

Philémon Yang: If the UN didn’t exist, we would create it today because there are so many problems, so many challenges we no one country can handle.

Eighty years is a long time in the life of a human being, but not in the life of a country or an organization. The UN is not perfect, but we can’t create an organization which is perfect.

The UN remains relevant and very important, but there is a need for reforms. When it was created in 1945, most of the countries which are now members of the General Assembly didn’t exist. It would be unfair to continue to use all the rules put in place in 1945, because they no longer apply easily.

I can take an easy example. The veto power of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Everybody accepts the need for reform, and there are calls for two permanent seats in the Council to be created for African countries.

Reforms are not dangerous. They don’t kill anybody. And they would only make the UN better equipped to deal with all the world issues we are dealing with, whether in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan or elsewhere. It’s in everybody’s interest to make the UN perform better.