- The UN Security Council is the body entrusted with maintaining international peace and security.
- The Council’s present composition is no longer representative of a world that has seen 142 new countries join the United Nations since 1945.
Image: PCS
Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi on Monday called for a united voice in propagating Africa’s position on United Nations Security Council reforms.
He said Africa must be ready and open to pragmatically and strategically consider all approaches that will ensure the reform process recognises and treats the continent’s quest as an exceptional and priority case.
“Africa's lack of representation in the permanent category and under-representation in the non-permanent category at the UN Security Council is a historical injustice that requires urgent attention,” he said.
Mudavadi made the remarks at the 11th Ministerial meeting of the African Union Committee of Ten (C-10) in Algiers, Algeria.
Mudavadi was accompanied by Kenya’s permanent representative to the AU, Ambassador George Orina and Senior Officials from the Kenyan Embassy in Algeria.
The UN Security Council is the body entrusted with maintaining international peace and security.
Africa aims to intensify her engagement with other member states, interest groups, and regional groups, in presenting a common African position on the reforms.
Unlike the decisions made by the General Assembly, UN Security Council decisions (known as resolutions) are binding on all member states.
That means it has wide‑ranging powers and can, if necessary, take actions- for example the imposition of sanctions that encroach on state sovereignty.
The current composition of the Security Council reflects the geopolitical situation of 1945. The Security Council’s enlargement in 1963/65 did not significantly change this.
The Council’s present composition is no longer representative of a world that has seen 142 new countries join the United Nations since 1945.
Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean in particular do not have the representation on the Council that their current standing demands, and are therefore calling for the Council’s composition to be adapted to the new realities.