President of Guinea-Bissau advocates expanding African representation at the UN

The President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoko Embalo, this Thursday defended greater representation of African countries in the United Nations, consistent with Africa’s role in the world.

The Guinean head of state was speaking at the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), which is bringing together world leaders from 193 countries in New York, in the United States, until Tuesday.

Sissoko Embalo mentioned reform of the UN Security Council, which he said had “long been considered necessary” and which he believed “should take into account the position of the African Union.”

The President of Guinea-Bissau believes that the requested reform of this body should “guarantee realistic and fairer representation in line with Africa’s increasingly dominant role in building and maintaining balance in the world.”

Sissoko Embalo highlighted the “great concern about the resumption of coups d’état and the regression of democracy and the rule of law in some countries” in the West African subregion, which is a flagrant violation of the free choice of the population as expressed in elections. “.

Ahead of Guinea-Bissau’s 50th anniversary of independence this weekend, the President thanked the former Soviet Union, the Republic of Guinea, Cuba, Algeria, Morocco and other countries for their assistance in the process. as well as the UN.

Sissoko also stressed that Africa’s “heads of state and government” continue to “prioritize the fight against malaria,” also known as malaria and which is transmitted through mosquito bites.

The head of state of Guinea-Bissau has been president of the Alliance of African Leaders against Malaria for a year now and noted that efforts made have prevented “more than 1.5 billion cases of malaria” since 2020. and 10.5 million deaths.

“And so I call on Africa and the international community to take action. If we are to achieve the 2030 global goals of ending the malaria epidemic and achieving universal health coverage, we need to act now,” he said.

Sissoko Embalo also said that “the Paris and COP 27 agreements must be respected, including the loss and damage fund for vulnerable countries, especially island countries” such as Guinea-Bissau.

“It is necessary to make the necessary changes to the architecture of peace, international security and the global financial system so that we can respond to the current international situation,” he stressed.

The President of Guinea-Bissau repeated his call for an end to the “unjust and irrational blockade” of Cuba, which he considered “an obstacle to the realization of the legitimate aspirations of the Cuban people,” adding that “the same thing is happening” to the people of Venezuela.

The 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meets from 19 to 26 September at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to discuss major global challenges under the theme “Restoring Confidence and Renewing Global Solidarity: Accelerating Action to implement the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals to achieve peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all people.”