STATEMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. UHURU KENYATTA, C.G.H.

, PRESIDENT
AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF
KENYA DURING THE OPENING OF MEETING OF THE AFRICAN UNION
COMMITTEE OF TEN (C-10) ON THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL
REFORM AT HOTEL VILA ROSA KEMPINSKI, NAIROBI ON 17TH NOVEMBER, 2014
Honourable Ministers,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Nairobi on behalf of my Government and the people
of Kenya. I am delighted that you were able to honour our invitation to participate in this meeting
of the African Union Committee of Ten (C-10) on the United Nations Security Council Reform.
Kenyas commitment to multilateralism and a rule based international system is unequivocal. We
support all efforts aimed at strengthening the United Nations system. We believe its effectiveness,
accountability and central role in multilateralism must be enhanced to enable the organization to
fully realize its potential.It is my conviction that it is only by working together in multilateral
institutions that we can achieve our aims.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
There are a number of challenges and changes that have emerged globally that call for a review of
the existing multilateral institutions. They are both structural and normative. It is, therefore,
important to consider which challenges and changes can be absorbed within existing mechanisms
and which cannot.
My Government believes that more than ever before, it is imperative to reform multilateral
institutions so that they are able to meet contemporary challenges and the demands of the 21st
century.Many of these institutions took shape after the Second World War.They have traditionally
been immune from requirements of governance that would have generally been applied to the
domestic context, such as transparency and public accountability.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I probably speak for most of us in saying that our countries have occasionally come under great
pressure on issues of transparency and accountability at the national level. Unfortunately, in the
context of governance of international institutions, this is not the case.

I am convinced that many international institutions do not meet contemporary standards. Neither
do they meet expectations of legitimacy based upon accountability and democracy in their decisionmaking procedures and representation. When the effectiveness of multilateral institutions fails to
meet performance expectations and contemporary norms, legitimacy is, in turn, in doubt.
Honourable Ministers,
Within the United Nations, the Security Council - the principal organ responsible for maintaining
international peace and security - best exemplifies a structure that is not compatible with the current
realities of the world. It does not reflect the current world power distribution and geopolitical
situation. The Councils small size and exclusive nature, its relations with the General Assembly, its
working methods and undemocratic nature, have become out of step with todays demands.
The body is antiquated and ill adapted to fulfill its tasks. Some regions of the world do not have
representation on the Council. Indeed, a considerable portion of the UN'S global constituency is
un-represented and unheard in the administration of global affairs. As a result, they do not have a
say in the policies that directly affect them. Africa, which provides a very large share of the UNs
security agenda and is also the focus of considerable work of the organization,has no voice in the
Council.
This is not only discriminatory but unfair and unjust.We must refocus the institution towards the
realisation of its founding objectives. Very often, the world has witnessed the over-represented
members bargaining and haggling over their narrow national interests at the expense of the
institution's mandate, even in the midst of global humanitarian crises.
The structural and normative issues therefore obstruct the achievement of the United Nations
founding objectives, and frustrates the advancement of its agenda to bring justice, sovereign
equality, democracy and the protection of human rights to its neediest constituencies. The world
needs to remember that our collective values as humanity are supposed to be enshrined in the
U.N.'S supranational charter, and that these values need to be demonstrated and pursued collectively
and consistently throughout the globe.
The inequality and lack of democracy in representation has led to inconsistencies, inefficiency and
the marginalisation of the world's vulnerable communities and severely betrayed it's largest
constituency- the less developed countries.
A good instance of this betrayal and marginalisation is the Africanization of tragedy. Conflict,
disease, famine and natural disaster are constantly profiled as African, normal and undeserving
serious global attention. This sustains the narrative of inequality between the peoples of the world,
and the socio-economic and political apartheid that sees the so - called Third World casually
relegated to the periphery of global affairs.
In 1994, a million people were murdered in Rwanda as the so - called superpowers quibble on the
procedural and editorial dimensions of the appropriate resolution. Recently, during the Ebola

outbreak that has now claimed nearly 10,000 African lives, we have witnessed only a lacklustre
global response.
It is only when the endemic globalised itself by leaping across continental barriers that webegan to
see the world's important nations and institutions respond as though real people were in danger.
These instances point to a tragic failure of humanity stemming from structural and normative
deficiencies of our current UN framework. Reforms are inevitable if the institution is to be
representative of our shared values.
It is difficult for the world to see the value of democracy when it is not being practised at its most
critical functions.Equality must proceed beyond mere rhetoric to reality reflected in the lives of the
poorest in our societies.
We want a UN that is capable of securing world peace in a time of unique and unprecedented
security challenges. Most importantly, we want a conversation that is premised on the principle of
equality and in an environment that allows every voice and view to be is heard.
The UN should be the last institution on earth propagating the idea that some societies are
inherently superior, or that some people's are generally unworthy. Yet this is the present
unsatisfactory state of affairs. I believe in the power of global consensus. I believe in humanity's
ability to rise to its full promise and build a supranational framework that is faithful to its dearest
ideals.
It is, therefore, incumbent upon you Ministers of the C-10 to champion Africas legitimate right
embodied in the Ezulwini Consensus. It provides a valuable basis for our collective efforts to
advance reform of the Security Council. We must build on this as part of our efforts to make the
United Nations a more effective instrument in the service of Africa and all the peoples of the world.
Honourable Ministers, Distinguished Delegates let me conclude by urging you to redouble your
efforts to ensure our continent secures a place at the table.
Let us recognize, from now on in each capital in our continent, in every nation that our interest
as a region is our national interest. Africa must have a voice in the UN Security Council.
With these few remarks, I wish you every success in your deliberations and a pleasant stay in
Nairobi; and look forward to receiving the final report of your deliberations.
I thank you.