Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has called for the reform of the United Nations Security Council to reflect the geo-political conditions of the times.

He said another look should be taken at the veto wielded by some permanent members which is used to forestall actions they disagreed with, even when the majority favoured it.

Former President Kufuor was speaking over the weekend at the two-day inaugural meeting of the Global Citizenship Commission at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Under the Chairmanship of Sir Gordon Brown, Former British Prime Minister, the Commission is to review the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) passed in 1948 and suggest ways to make it more comprehensive and relevant to present day.

Former President Kufuor called for a clear authority to be put in place by the international community to sanction violating national governments and also unambiguous procedures and processes for activating action by such an authority.

“The time has come for a new radical and unambiguous framework within which the international community will act to ensure that fundamental human rights are truly universal and enforceable.”

He commended the international community for intervening in places such as Kosovo, La Cote d’Ivoire and Mali, among others which helped to save lives, restore peace and uphold the fundamental human rights of the people. 

Former President Kufuor said since insecurity and tramping upon of humanity’s natural rights have become global, measures to forestall them should also be global.

“If the international community believes that it has a duty and obligation to humanity to keep peace, then it surely should have a bigger moral and ethical responsibility to ensure that the conditions that create lack of peace do not exist to begin with.

“The existence and effectiveness of the International Criminal Court (ICC) should be a strong deterrent to leaders who would otherwise want to deny their people their rights but its powers should be universal and not limited to only a few countries,” he said.

Sir Gordon Brown, Professor Kwame Anthony Appiah, Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University and Professor Jeremy Waldron, Professor of Legal and Political Philosophy at New York University School of Law were at the meetings.

Prior to the Commission’s meetings, President Kufuor was among six distinguished personalities bestowed with honorary doctorate degrees by the University of Edinburgh at the Talbot Rice Gallery at the Old College.

He was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters for his contribution to international development.

Four of the other five honourees are fellow Commissioners of the Global Citizenship Commission.

They include Professors Appiah, Waldron, Professor Derek Curtis Bok, two-time President of Harvard University in the USA and Professor Emma Georgina Rothschild, Professor of History at Harvard University.