(iWitness News) – Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Godwin Friday, used his first address to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday to call for sweeping reforms of the global system, including changes to the UN Security Council, climate finance rules, an end to the US embargo on Cuba, and reparatory justice for slavery and indigenous genocide.
Speaking during the high-level debate of the 79th Session, Friday, who was elected to office in November, said trust in multilateral institutions was “broken” and warned that hope had “retreated” as small and vulnerable states continue to bear the brunt of climate change, economic shocks and global conflicts they did not create.
He urged member states not to abandon the UN, despite its flaws, but to “fix it,” arguing that the organisation is “what we have made it” and must be reformed rather than discarded.
Friday backed long‑standing calls for reform of the Security Council, saying the body remained rooted in the power dynamics of 1945 and did not reflect contemporary geopolitical realities
He said the Security Council should include at least one permanent African member “with all the attendant rights and privileges,” and warned that failure to address this would confirm that the structure of global governance is “not about governance and fairness, but about power”.
