Washington announces its support for giving Africa two permanent seats in the UN Security Council
The United States announced its support for the creation of two permanent seats for African countries in the UN Security Council, but without veto power, as part of a possible reform of the main body of the United Nations.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Greenfield said at a conference organized by the non-governmental Council on Foreign Relations that Washington supports the creation of two permanent seats for Africa on the Security Council, but doesn’t support expanding the Veto power for new members, nor eliminating it for current members, considering that expanding the veto power would make the council more dysfunctional.
The US diplomat explained, “the problem is that these elected seats don’t allow African countries to use their knowledge and voice in the work of the council”.
The US ambassador also called for a non-permanent seat for small island developing states, without specifying the total number of permanent and non-permanent members that the council could include.
For its part, Russia called on African countries to remain vigilant, and Russian Deputy Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky considered that “it won’t be possible to correct the injustice against Africa by allowing new Western countries to join the Council”.
Giving Africa two permanent seats on the UN Security Council is a long-standing demand on the continent, and was called for in August by Sierra Leone President Julius Maadabio, whose country assumed the presidency of the council last month, stressing that “Africa wants to eliminate the Veto, but if member states want to keep it, it must include the new permanent members… It’s a matter of justice”.
The UN Security Council consists of 15 members, 5 of whom are permanent members with Veto power: the United States, Britain, France, China, and Russia, and 10 elected for two-year terms, representing different geographical regions, including 3 seats for Africa.
