Sopuruchi Onwuka, with agency reports

Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for sweeping reforms of the UN Security Council, warning that its failure to function effectively lies at the heart of the organization’s current crisis.

Ad >>>

Ban made the call on Monday at UN Headquarters in New York during an open debate of the Security Council titled “Leadership for Peace: Future UN Leadership.” He attended the session as a representative of The Elders, a non-profit organization made up of former global leaders.

“We must face reality squarely,” Ban said. “The most serious cause of the current crisis at the United Nations is that the Security Council is not functioning properly.”

Ban, who served as the UN’s eighth Secretary-General from January 2007 to December 2016, argued that the Council’s working methods must be “fundamentally reformed and revitalized,” particularly the use of veto power by its permanent members.

He said some permanent members have repeatedly undermined the UN’s peace and security mandate by using the veto to shield themselves, their allies, and proxy forces from accountability.

“Without concrete reforms to curb the arbitrary and abusive use of the veto by permanent members, the UN’s sense of powerlessness will not be overcome,” Ban said.

The five permanent members of the Security Council are the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France. Any one of them can block the adoption of a resolution by exercising its veto.

Ban cited South Korea as a direct victim of the current system. In March last year, the Security Council voted on a resolution to extend the mandate of the Panel of Experts under the North Korea Sanctions Committee. Russia vetoed the measure, while China abstained, leading to the panel’s termination. The move sparked criticism that monitoring mechanisms tracking North Korea’s sanctions violations had effectively disappeared.

Russia’s veto followed its deepening military alignment with North Korea after the outbreak of the Ukraine war. Similar cases, Ban noted, have intensified international debate over what critics describe as the growing “irrelevance of the Security Council,” with permanent members accused of weakening global peace and security through unchecked veto use.

“Without Security Council reform, civilians will remain unprotected, and impunity will persist,” Ban said. “If the veto cannot be abolished, efforts must at least be made to restrict its use.”

Beyond Security Council reform, Ban also urged changes to the tenure of the UN Secretary-General. He proposed that future Secretaries-General serve a single, non-renewable seven-year term.

“Serving two five-year terms makes the Secretary-General overly dependent on the permanent members of the Security Council for reappointment,” he argued.

The UN Charter does not specify the length of the Secretary-General’s term. Article 97 only states that the Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. The current practice of five-year renewable terms, Ban noted, is customary rather than legally binding.

“The Secretary-General’s term is merely a practice, not a requirement of the Charter,” he said, adding that the General Assembly has the authority to set its own appointment conditions.

The selection process for the next UN Secretary-General is already underway. The current Secretary-General, António Guterres, is due to complete his term in December next year.

Ban concluded his remarks by quoting British poet John Donne’s Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, reminding delegates of humanity’s shared responsibility: “No man is an island… any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.”