African countries comprise 25% of the UN General Assembly, and five of the current 11 peacekeeping operations worldwide are in Africa. The sheer size of Africa’s population is another consideration, while more than half of the council’s business focuses on Africa.

With the approach in September of the highly anticipated United Nations (UN) Summit of the Future, the call for UN reform continues to resonate globally, including across Africa.

During the meeting of the G20 foreign ministers in Rio de Janeiro in February, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva repeated his intention to use Brazil’s G20 presidency to campaign for the reform of the UN.

Indeed, the time has come for reforming or replacing the UN and some of its major institutions, such as the Security Council. This change should also encompass the transformation of the Bretton Woods Institutions.

As far back as 2000, the Lomé Declaration raised concerns that the overdue reform of the Security Council and the bid to align the council’s membership and functioning with contemporary demands had not been realised.

African leaders further argue that the global powers have consistently failed to give the same level of attention to conflict management in Africa as in other regions.

The peacekeeping efforts by Africans, as outlined under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, do not receive adequate financial and logistical support.

The voting procedure, a principle guiding peacekeeping actions or passing resolutions at the council, has been the…