Statement by His Excellency Dr Mohamed Muizzu, President of the Republic of Maldives at the United Nations Security Council High-level Open Debate on ‘Leadership for Peace: United in Respect of the UN Charter, in Search of a Secure Future’

Thank you, Mr President, for convening this Open Debate.

And thank you Mr Secretary General, President Sirleaf, and the President of the IFRC for your comprehensive briefs.

This is the first time, that a Maldivian President is addressing the Security Council, in the 59 years we have been a UN member.

I came to speak to you because I felt it important to personally convey to the Security Council, a message from the Maldivian people…
…about the immense responsibility that the Council holds in maintaining global peace and security.
…about the immense hope with which that the people of the world look up to the Council.
…and about the immense failure of this Council in giving hope to the hopeless, and salvation to the suffering.

Global mistrust in the multilateral system continues to grow. And that is largely because of the ineffectiveness and inaction of the Council.

We sit here today while a genocide unfolds under the nose of a Security Council unwilling to uphold international law and put an end to it.

On the sixteenth of November last year, thirty six UN Special Rapporteurs and Experts referred to ‘a genocide in the making’ in Gaza. They were designated experts by this organisation, the UN.

In July of this year, the International Court Of Justice, found that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal, that Israel must evacuate settlements and pay reparations to Palestinians. Members of this Council are expected to work to enforce findings by the UN’s own principal judicial organ.

This organisation must listen to its own voices. The people of the world are listening. The people of the world are watching.

In May, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court sought arrest warrants in relation to the war in Gaza. The world expects Security Council members to support the process of justice and not to do anything to undermine it.

It was member states of this Council who established the principles, institutions and architecture of a rules-based order. A world order based on justice.

That architecture is now crumbling under the rubble of destroyed homes, hospitals and school. Disintegrating under the weight of the bodies of innocent civilians, in Gaza and Lebanon. An architecture decaying, stained with the blood of those whose very existence is supposed to be a symbol of a civilised world order from aid workers, to UN staff, to journalists.

Journalists from Palestine, Lebanon and Al Jazeera who Israel has killed or closed their offices while they risk everything to ensure we don’t all return to a world, where children and babies die in silence, perish in darkness.

Powerful members of this Council, is this really the world you want to lead us into?
Powerful members of this Council, is this really the example you want to set for others?

Powerful members of this Council, do you really want to undermine the foundations of global order that you have built?

The declining trust in the Security Council is rooted in the lack of equal representation, accountability, and transparency. It’s fuelled by the Council’s selective intervention in maintaining security for some, but not for others.

We need change. And we need it now.

The Security Council must become more representative.

Its composition is archaic and outdated.

Out of touch with the realities of the UN membership today.

For example, Small Island Developing States are one-fifth of the UN membership. Our voices matter. Our perspectives matter.
Our wealth of experience in conflict resolution, rooted in our traditions of community and cooperation, matter.

We deserve a seat at the table.
A permanent rotating seat for SIDS will be a historic step towards equitable representation.

So will the efforts to address the historical injustice towards Africa in the Council – which we wholeheartedly support. An inclusive and representative Council will be a more effective Council. An effective Council will also practice what it preaches.

The Council cannot expect democracy and accountability in UN Member States, without practicing the same in the Council.

We know the solution. It requires courage… and a strong will.

We must abolish the veto.
The veto continues to paralyse the Council from stopping Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people.
The veto has allowed Israel to continue with impunity, in practicing brutal occupation and risking regional security. The veto continues to enable the massacre of innocent people.

So, let us ‘kill’ the veto.

Let us also bring an end to ineffective talks on UN security council reform, that have not produced a result for more than fifteen years. Let us start fresh. With renewed hope and fresh resolve.

Let us start a new intergovernmental process with text-based negotiations. I urge a new President of the General Assembly to conclude the process before the end of the 79th session.

The Council must also accept and address the implications of non-traditional security threats.

The link between climate change and conflict is clear. Pandemics and disasters have proven to be devastating on a global scale. Lack of water and depletion of other natural resources are already creating chaos.

As we witnessed in Lebanon a few days ago, technology has advanced to such a stage, that detonating devices in our own pockets remotely , is now a reality.

If the Security Council is not more flexible and agile in effectively responding to these new and emerging threats, it runs the risk of being buried in the dust.

As countries take matters into their own hands, it will lead to more chaos, and more conflict. To address this, the Council must listen to the people it serves. Experts, civil society, regional bodies and individuals.

I call for the establishment of a mechanism where people can provide the Council with innovative and real-time solutions.
Let us trust the people we are elected to serve, so that they too will trust us again.

Mr President,
The Maldives is a small country.
But we are a proud member of the UN.
As our first act after regaining our independence 59 years ago, we requested to join the UN.

We have always placed our faith in the multilateral system and the United Nations.
As a guarantor of our sovereignty. Of our equality.
We are not questioning the value of the UN.

But because the Security Council “acts on our behalf”, and we are obliged to “accept and carry out” decisions by the Council, we have a right to question its work, and its methods.

Talk is cheap.
We deserve better than empty rhetoric and half-hearted gestures. We demand better.

I thank you.