JOHANNESBURG, August 24. /TASS/. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the organization’s Security Council and the Bretton Woods financial system should be reformed.
He made the statement in a speech at a recent BRICS summit as he attended the event for the first time ever.
"Today’s global governance structures reflect yesterday’s world. They were largely created in the aftermath of World War II when many African countries were still ruled by colonial powers," Guterres said. "This is particularly true of the Security Council of the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions."
"For multilateral institutions to remain truly universal, they must reform to reflect today’s power and economic realities. In the absence of such reform - fragmentation is inevitable," he said. "We cannot afford a world with a divided global economy and financial system; with diverging strategies on technology including artificial intelligence; and with conflicting security frameworks."
"The IMF estimates that such a fracture could cost 7% of global GDP - a cost that would be disproportionately born by low-income countries, mainly in Africa," the top UN official said. "I have come to Johannesburg with a simple message: in a fracturing world overwhelmed by crises, there is simply no alternative to cooperation. We must urgently restore trust and reinvigorate multilateralism for the 21st century. This requires the courage to compromise for the common good."