United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, António Guterres, has stated his commitment to securing permanent representation for Africa at the UN Security Council......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
Guterres, who disclosed this in an X post on Monday, described as unjustifiable, the exclusion of the continent from the list of permanent members of the council.
The UN Security Council currently consists of five permanent members, which include China, France, the UK, the United States and Russia.
It also has ten non-permanent members, which includes Angola (2016), Egypt (2017), Japan (2017), Malaysia (2016), New Zealand (2016), Senegal (2017), Spain (2016), Ukraine (2017), Uruguay (2017) and Venezuela (2016).
While the big five countries cannot be voted out, having been pioneer members of the council when the UN charter adopted in 1945, the non‑permanent members are elected on a regional basis for a two‑year term by the General Assembly. The UN laws, however, do not permit re-election immediately after holding a seat in the Security Council.
The UN Chief stressed the need to address Africa’s historical underrepresentation in global decision-making and pledged to ensure Africa gains the recognition it deserves.
“There is no excuse that Africa still lacks permanent representation on the Security Council,” he stated. “I will keep working with the @_AfricanUnion and all @UN Member Countries to ensure the representation Africa needs – including with two permanent members,” Guterres said.
For decades, African leaders have advocated for Security Council reforms, arguing that the current structure does not reflect modern global realities. The continent, home to over 1.4 billion people and 54 nations, remains without a permanent seat, despite being significantly affected by the Council’s decisions.
The African Union has long supported the Ezulwini Consensus a position adopted in March 2005 calling for reform of the security council to give the continent, two permanent seats with full veto power and five non-permanent seats.