Africa Must Have Permanent Member In UN Security Council – Guterres

United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has said the world body cannot continue to accept that no African country is a permanent member of the Security Council.

Antonio Guterres said a continent of well over a billion people cannot be left out of the key members of the Security Council.

On his X handle, on Tuesday, Guterres said African voices, insights, and participation must be brought to bear across the Security Council’s delibrations and actions.

Guterres lamented that the composition of the permanent members of the Security Council remained the same since 1945.

“The Security Council was designed by the victors of World War II. The world has changed but the composition of the Council has not kept pace.

“We can’t accept that there is no permanent member representing Africa – a continent of well over a billion people.

“African voices, insights & participation must be brought to bear across the Council’s deliberations and actions,” the UN chief said.

According to information on the Security Council’s website, the organ has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

It has 15 Members, and each Member has one vote. The five states (countries): China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America are permanent members of the Council, with veto power.

The remaining 10 non-permanent members are shared among African, Asian, Eastern European, Latin American, Western European and other states.

African and Asian States have 5 slots, Eastern Europe has 1 slot, Latin America has 2 slots, while Western Europe and other states have 2 slots.

“Under the Charter of the United Nations, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions.
 The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression.

“The Security Council can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorize the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security,” information on its website read.

The current member states of the Security Council include: Algeria, China, Ecuador, France, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Africa has three member states currently in the Council: Algeria, Sierra Leone and Mozambique. These three countries will represent the African continent until the end of 2025.

Each non-permanent member state has two years tenure.