African leaders returned to the 81st United Nations (UN) General Assembly to demand a Security Council reform that would grant the continent permanent seats, PBS News reports.

From the podium, Kenya’s presidency put the contradiction bluntly: “every nation is sovereign and equal under the Charter, yet on the gravest question of war and peace, five nations possess a permanent power that the other 188 do not,” according to PBS News. The New York Times also recorded the appeal.