UN reforms must be ‘meaningful’ to make it ‘fit for future’: UNGA President Khalilur Rahman

United Nations General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman has called for “meaningful” reforms of the world body, particularly its Security Council, to make it “fit for the future” and regain public trust.

Mr. Rahman, who assumed charge as President of the 81st session of the General Assembly on Tuesday (September 9, 2026), responded to a question from PTI at a media briefing here about how his presidency could help advance the long-pending, slow-moving process of reforming the UN Security Council.

“Reforms must be meaningful. These reforms must help regain the trust of this organisation in the eyes of the public. Unless that happens, the reforms will be regarded as marginal or perfunctory. I take this reform very, very seriously,” he said.

Mr. Rahman, who is also the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, said he will continue to support UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ UN80 initiative, which seeks to make the UN system simpler, more effective and more coherent.

“We have a situation where trust is in deficit, and the organisation must undertake deeper reform to make it fit for the future, not only today, but for tomorrow. This is not 1945. We are not doing the San Francisco conference,” he said, referring to the landmark event during which the Charter of the United Nations was agreed upon.

Noting that the world is living in the 21st century and the UN itself is over eight decades old, Mr. Rahman told reporters, “The world has moved on. The organisation must move on, and I’ll help that process.” The UNGA president said that as the world organisation confronts challenges and harnesses opportunities, he will put a high premium on cooperation and dialogue.

“I’m not naive to think that everything can be resolved quickly, amicably. There are things that will stay unresolved. There are things that we might take time to find solutions. That’s fine. But that should not stop us from seeking common ground wherever we can,” he said.

Mr. Rahman was elected in June as President of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, which commenced at the UN headquarters on Tuesday (September 8). He succeeded former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.