Nundkeswarsing Bossoondyal
Director at Council of Students and Youth Movement of Mauritius
Dear Moderator Comrade Zeynel, Speakers and audiences,
(COSYMMAURITIUS) founded on 22nd September 1971. COSYMMAURITIUS is the conceiver of the SADC Youth Council with WAY and the Non-aligned Students and Youth Organisation as an international NGO, founded on 30th April 1992 in Baghdad.
The continued hosting of the United Nations Headquarters in the United States represents a structural contradiction that undermines the very foundations of multilateralism, sovereign equality, and international justice. For the countries of the Global South and the Non-Aligned Movement, the question of relocating the United Nations Organisation (UNO) is no longer symbolic—it is an imperative rooted in the unfinished struggle against domination, coercion, and neo-imperial control of global governance.
The United States, as host country, has repeatedly violated its obligations under the UN Headquarters Agreement by obstructing the entry of duly accredited leaders and representatives from sovereign Member States, including China, Cuba, Venezuela, and Palestine. Such actions amount to political discrimination and collective punishment, directly contravening the principles of universality and inclusiveness that the United Nations is meant to uphold.
A host state that weaponizes visas, borders, and administrative control to silence dissenting voices is fundamentally incompatible with the spirit and letter of the UN Charter.
For decades, the Global South has witnessed the systematic erosion of the integrity of the United Nations—particularly within the Security Council—through coercion, intimidation, and the abuse of power by dominant states. In 1988, the UNGA was forced to move to Geneva to make room for Leader Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestinian people, to address the General Assembly. From that time, progressive voices were heard about the relocation of the UN HQ from the USA.
During critical moments of international crisis, including the Gulf Wars, pressure, inducements, and political manipulation were employed to force outcomes serving narrow geopolitical interests rather than collective security or international law.
This persistent imbalance has rendered the Security Council increasingly unrepresentative, undemocratic, and detached from the realities and aspirations of the majority of humanity.
The credibility of the United Nations is further compromised by its physical location in a country that is itself a Permanent Member of the Security Council and has, over decades, pursued policies of military aggression, occupation, regime change, and unilateral intervention against sovereign states of the Global South. The devastation of Iraq and Libya, ongoing destabilisation across regions, and recent threats and actions directed at Venezuela stand as stark reminders of the selective application of international law and the impunity enjoyed by powerful states. Such conduct directly violates the principles of sovereignty, non-interference, and peaceful coexistence championed by the Non-Aligned Movement.
In response to this entrenched structural injustice, the Global South must advance a transformative and equitable alternative. The United Nations Headquarters should be relocated outside the United States and hosted on a rotational basis among regions, including Africa, Asia, and Europe, on a decade-by-decade framework.
This model, inspired by the rotational leadership of the United Nations General Assembly, would embody genuine multilateralism, shared responsibility, and geographic equity. The existing UN facilities in New York could continue to function as a Regional Headquarters, ensuring institutional continuity while ending monopolistic host-state influence.
Recent developments within the United States, including the establishment of politically branded “peace” initiatives alongside continued militarisation and sanctions regimes, further expose the contradiction between rhetoric and reality. These actions reinforce the perception of a United Nations system increasingly subordinated to unilateral power rather than governed by collective will.
For the Global South and the Non-Aligned Movement, this moment demands courage and political clarity. The time has come for Member States to initiate a formal, collective, and transparent process to relocate the United Nations Headquarters outside the United States.
Such a decision would mark a historic step toward decolonising global governance, restoring balance to international institutions, and reaffirming the founding vision of the United Nations: a world order based on equality, justice, peaceful coexistence, and respect for the sovereignty of all nations—large and small, powerful, and vulnerable alike.
A balanced and effective multilateral democratic institution, such as the United Nations, must enjoy full liberty and freedom to exercise its complete independence and to discharge its mandate as a global guardian of the welfare of humanity, in accordance with the principles and purposes enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. In this regard, the establishment of the United Nations Headquarters in a genuinely neutral venue, located outside the territory of the United States, is essential to safeguard the Organization’s institutional autonomy, impartiality, and credibility.
