UN chief calls for urgent action on Africa's climate and poverty challenges

Climate change, conflict, and persistent poverty in Africa require resolute action, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday.

"Africa is a continent of hope. But it faces challenges that are deeply rooted in history and are exacerbated by climate change, conflict, and persistent poverty," Guterres said at the inauguration of the renovated Africa Hall in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

African women often "bear the brunt of these hardships," Guterres said, underlining that these issues require "resolute action and renewed solidarity."

The UN chief added that global institutions were built at a time when most of Africa was under colonial rule and many of these institutions are stuck in those times, unable to respond to the aspirations and rights of the African people.

"Africa still has no permanent seat at the Security Council. And let's hope it will be corrected soon," he said, criticizing that international financial institutions often cannot provide African countries with the response they need, whether it is protection from strangling debt or from climate catastrophe they did not cause.

"We can only move forward if we also renew and update global institutions, by making them more effective, fair and inclusive," he said.

Guterres also underlined the importance of the recently adopted Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact, and the Declaration on Future Generations, which recognizes the need to reform the Security Council to make it "representative, transparent, efficient, democratic and accountable."

The pact also calls for groundbreaking reforms of the international financial architecture, including to massively scale up affordable development and climate finance, he added.

"We must now move forward together in implementing these historic agreements without delay," Guterres said, urging that young people must be included at every step without delay.