United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the global situation is deteriorating as wars increase in number and complexity, while divisions among major powers continue to paralyse the UN Security Council.
Speaking in a wide-ranging interview with Al Jazeera on Monday, ahead of his final address to the UN General Assembly as secretary-general, Guterres said the growing geopolitical divisions were leaving vulnerable populations in increasingly desperate situations.
He said the involvement of major powers and key Security Council members in ongoing conflicts had contributed to repeated violations of international law and created what he described as an environment of impunity.
Guterres also highlighted the global economic impact of the Russia-Ukraine war and the US-Israel war on Iran, including disruptions to food and fertiliser supplies, rising fuel prices and increasing inflation.
He said disruptions in the Black Sea, the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb, together with attacks on oil facilities in parts of the Middle East, were having a devastating impact on economies around the world.
According to the UN chief, developed countries may eventually manage rising interest rates and energy costs, but people in developing countries are facing a much more difficult situation because of increasing food and fuel prices and shortages of fertilisers.
Guterres, who has served as UN secretary-general since January 2017, is due to leave office on December 31, 2026. His successor has yet to be selected.
He said the UN urgently needs reforms to remain effective on the global stage, particularly the Security Council, which he argued still largely reflects the geopolitical structure that emerged after World War II.
Among those reportedly in contention to succeed him are International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi, former Senegalese President Macky Sall and Ecuadorian diplomat Maria Fernanda Espinosa.
A candidate for UN secretary-general must secure at least nine votes from the 15-member Security Council and avoid a veto from any of its five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — before the appointment is submitted to the General Assembly.
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