OPINION - A push for UN reform: A world bigger than 5

• UN reform would require the existing structure to evolve beyond the interests of a privileged few, and ensure the metrics of accountability are focused on all states in equal measure
• Need for peacebuilding takes a backseat when competing interests of P5 states take precedence over very purpose of UN initiatives

The author is a senior expert at Initiate Futures, and leads the West Asia Program at the Institute of Regional Studies.

ISTANBUL

Türkiye has recently ramped up its calls for effective and transparent reforms at the United Nations. The move follows broad-based international concern about accountability within the United Nations Security Council, which has long prioritized a "Permanent Five" (P5) veto mechanism. This mechanism undermines international representation on proposed peacebuilding measures, and has prompted reform initiatives such as the UN80 process – a composite of reforms aimed at bringing the UN’s impact to the populations that it serves.

So what would effective interventions look like, and how does Türkiye's push for a more accountable, transparent, and globally representative UN body strike a chord with the Global South?

First, there has to be a concerted effort to coordinate expectations on what qualifies as genuinely sustainable progress – in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) clearly demonstrate, the path towards meeting chief targets – including access to water, food, and cooperative development – is a multi-sector exercise. Thus, it demands greater focus on who determines resource flows, and which Global South countries are afforded a place on the negotiating table. Türkiye's support for the UN80 process helps put those constraints into perspective.

For instance, the UN80 reform initiative clearly outlines a profound erosion of international trust when it comes to the global body’s functioning. The Security Council has a history of locking out consensus on key imperatives for regional peace, including Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which formed a critical point of policy initiative for Türkiye.

Türkiye’s reform push in an era of overlapping crises

Given the need for increased Global South representation in the UN, rights accountability, and improved resource access, Türkiye is taking an important step forward for reform. Constraints in development financing, ethical artificial intelligence (AI) use, and limited South-South engagement also strengthen Ankara's case to ensure the UN responds to "the ever-changing and increasing challenges of our time." Central to that preparation is to bring competing voices together for a collective consensus on peace.

The founding principles of the United Nations clearly signal a move towards collective consensus-building and respect for the security and development the interests of all powers involved, regardless of their development stage, power status, capital strength, or global appeal. Türkiye's push for effective reforms merits considerable significance because parts of Asia are fast emerging as growth engines of sustainable development, while conflict-hit states such as Palestine need their calls for justice to be heard on the world stage.

Central to this holistic approach to UN action is a departure from the privileged power levers of the Permanent Five (P5) states, who have a history of preventing an enduring consensus on major issues of justice, humanitarian relief and developing world representation from taking center stage. The P5’s exercise of the "veto" is an example in itself: critical resolutions, such as those calling for urgent humanitarian relief amid Israel’s Gaza genocide, have been vetoed by the US to the detriment of international conscience. Similarly, the need for peacebuilding – whether in the Ukraine war or to limit the trade and geopolitical spillovers of the US-China tensions – takes a backseat when the competing interests of P5 states take precedence over the very purpose of UN initiatives: to ensure that the body accommodates the interests of the voiceless, disadvantaged, and less representative states of the world.

Meaningful UN80 reform

Such a view to reform would require the existing UN structure to evolve beyond the interests of the privileged few, and ensure that the metrics of accountability are focused on all states in equal measure. For instance, China’s approach to the South China Sea remains a matter of chief sovereign value to Beijing, but the broader perceptions surrounding what is seen as “aggression” or the lack of a diplomatic initiative for peace merits the coming together of key powers in the region. Similarly, the drastic uptick in technology flows – in alignment with US interests – requires a conscious effort from the UN to factor those states in the Global South who have not benefitted from technology transfers and trade movement to the extent that some developed states have.

Thus, working groups that take these priorities forward – including those with backing from the Group of 77 (G77 countries) – can help create space for inclusive dialogue and reform that must be from the ground up. As the UN secretary-general’s landmark UN80 reform initiative proposal made clear, the true structure of an enduring, accountable, and transparent UN body needs to have a multipronged approach to its execution.

And central to that execution is helping the body embrace the reforms that select nations within the UN Security Council “P5” group have sought to communicate to the world – with little ownership from within.

*Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Anadolu's editorial policy.