Africa wants a permanent representation on UN security council.
African countries have said that they want a permanent representation on UN security council, arguing that it is unfair for a continent with over 50 countries not being represented.
They have threatened to pull out of the UN security council if they are denied permanent representation.
According to the executive chairman of the African Parliamentary Alliance for UN Reforms (APAUNR), Kakoba Onyango, it is time that Africa got representatives on UN security council.He said that has formed a ten member committee that will draft the petition which is aimed at supporting efforts of the African Union (AU) to have a permanent member on the Security Council.
He said ”A group of African legislators from the five regions of Africa are drafting a petition calling upon the United Nations (UN) to reform and give Africa a permanent representation on the UN Security Council (UNSC).”
Currently the UNSC has 15 members of which five are permanent while 10 are non-permanent. The permanent include China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and United States while Angola, Egypt, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Senegal, Spain, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela are non-permanent. The non-permanent membership is rotational after every two years.
Onyango said during a media interview that the petition will require at least 10 million signatures from Africans across the continent.
He explained that in order to generate these signatures, they are starting a ‘barefoot walk’ campaign to sensitize African states about the need for a permanent representation in the UNSC and ask them to sign the petition, calling upon the UN to reform and include Africa in the permanent membership.
Onyango stated that they are advocating for two seats at the Security Council, one with veto powers and five non-permanent seats.
“If the UN does not reform, then by 2020 we shall go by the position of the AU and pull out of the UNSC, because it is injustice on the side of the African not to be represented there yet it has the majority representation in the UN with 54%,” he said.
He stated that since the African continent is the worst hit by security challenges as compared to other continents, it should have a permanent representation on the UNSC with veto powers to make faster decisions regarding its challenge.
Godrey Olukya
