Discurso do Representante Permanente, Embaixador Sérgio França Danese, em debate aberto do Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas sobre Lideranças para a Paz - 15 de dezembro de 2025 (texto em inglês)
Statement by the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations, Ambassador Sérgio França Danese, at Security Council Open Debate on Leadership for Peace
December 15th, 2025
Mr. President,
I thank Slovenia for convening this most opportune open debate on a matter of great importance to the international community. I also thank former Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and the briefers for their valuable insights.
The maintenance of international peace and security has been a core objective of the United Nations since its inception. Yet it has become clear that we must work harder to ensure that the UN fully regains its own centrality in this field.
To that end, it is essential that Member States strengthen both the institutional and political support for the United Nations. We must confront current
crises collectively, with responses grounded on trust and dialogue and guided by the UN Charter and international law, preventing today`s challenges from eroding confidence in multilateralism and allowing conflicts to spread and perpetuate.
In the months ahead, the selection of the next Secretary General will be at the forefront of our discussions. The manner in which this process is conducted will be crucial for ensuring confidence in the individual chosen. It is therefore vital that the selection process be transparent, inclusive and based on broad consultations among all Member States.
Brazil reiterates the call for the next SG to be from Latin America and preferably a woman.
There has never been a woman who led this organization. The time is more than ripe for that.
And there has only been one Latin American who reached the top job at the UN - the Peruvian diplomat
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, who left office almost 35 years ago leaving a respectable legacy as corresponds to a region fully committed to peace and to the UN since its creation.
Mr. President,
The credibility and legitimacy of a Secretary-General should be measured above all by the political trust she or he inspires within the Secretariat, among Member States and outwardly to the international community.
Article 99 of the Charter confers the SG the power to call the attention of this Council to any situation he deems to be a threat to international peace and security. More than that, the SG should be considered more often as an honest broker in international crises and play a role by means of mediation, conciliation, arbitration, or other tools foreseen in Chapter VI of the UN Charter.
However, solutions to complex crises cannot depend on any single individual or professional team. The UN and the membership have a preeminent role to play, as we have recently witnessed in the current crisis in the Middle East.
Moreover, efforts to reform and revitalize relevant UN bodies, including the Security Council and the General Assembly, enable the Organization to respond more adequately to today`s challenges. Likewise, the UN must be equipped with predictable and adequate financial resources to fulfill its mandates, preserving the balance among the three pillars of the Charter: peace and security, sustainable development and human rights. Investment in preventive diplomacy and peacebuilding also remain essential to avoid the escalation of conflicts.
80 years after the adoption of the UN Charter, we still need leaders that understand the needs of our times. Some challenges have evolved and some are
totally new. The main objectives, nevertheless, remain the same: our peoples still long for peace, prosperity and social justice. They expect the protection of hard-fought human and social rights, and to feel safe in a world where conflicts are not consistently emerging or reappearing.
Reliable and legitimate leadership from the Secretary-General is an important step toward guaranteeing the UN`s central role in maintaining international peace and security. But it is through the full and sustained commitment of Member States to the Charter that the Organization will be able to meet the responsibilities entrusted to it by "the peoples of the United Nations".
Thank you.