Foreign affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma says South Africa is ready to support other developing nations in the process of transforming the United Nations and its Security Council as the status quo at such international institutions “does not advance the interest of the poor”. Minister Dlamini-Zuma said unequal distribution of political, economic and military power had meant that the developing nations were still condemned into squalor of poverty and underdevelopment while the developed nations continued to dominate. Speaking during the Gala dinner of the second meeting of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Panel of Eminent persons in Johannesburg of Friday, the minister said South Africa would ensure that UN as the 'centre' of the collective will of world peoples did hold. “Because of its (UN) importance, we have a responsibility to ensure that the centre holds and that things do not fall apart,” said Dlamini-Zuma. The minister's remarks came after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in his address to the 58th UN General Assembly last month, called for the reform of the UN particularly its Security Council, which would have the balance to act collectively.

The minister said for such a reform to be undertaken, it required the collective determination of the developing nations to speak in one voice. “This requires determination and commitment on our side as Africans to speak with one voice and act in unison. It requires a heightened level of solidarity amongst all developing countries,” said Dlamini-Zuma. – BuaNews.