After decades of searching for a stronger voice in the United Nations’ most powerful body, Africa “cannot wait any longer,” Sierra Leone’s president told the Security Council on Monday.
Chairing a meeting convened by his country, President Julius Maada Bio pressed a long-standing demand for African countries to get more seats on the council, including two permanent seats and potentially veto power.
“The time for half-measures and incremental progress is over. Africa must be heard and its demands for justice and equity must be met,” Mr. Bio said, calling his continent “an indisputable victim” of an unbalanced, obsolete and unrepresentative Security Council structure.
This was not the first time the Council had heard calls for expansion and a reshaping of its membership — and African countries are not alone in wanting greater representation. While there is a general sense that the Council needs to change, discussions have been bogged down by disagreements over how much to expand the group, which countries to include, and what powers it should have.
PHOTO ANDREW KELLY, REUTERS
The UN Security Council
Mr. Bio’s presence put an exclamation point on the issue, ahead of a U.N. “Future Summit” and the annual General Assembly meeting of presidents, prime ministers and monarchs. Both gatherings are scheduled for next month.
Some countries are hoping for momentum from the summit, which is meant to generate a new vision of what international cooperation should look like this century. The latest draft of the summit’s potential “Compact for the Future” calls Security Council reform a priority and promises an “ambitious” outcome, with specific language yet to come.
“We are sure it is a matter of time. Because the guards will have difficulty letting us in,” Mr. Bio predicted at a press briefing on Monday, but “we have a genuine and convincing argument.”
Africa “wronged”
Created in 1945 to try to keep the peace in the aftermath of World War II, the Security Council can impose sanctions, deploy peacekeeping missions and pass legally binding resolutions, although they are sometimes ignored.
Its composition reflects the post-war power structure and a time when most of Africa was under European control.
The United States, Russia, China, Britain and France are permanent members with veto power. An additional 10 seats – originally six, until the 1965 enlargement – go to countries that get two-year terms on the Council, without veto power.
The enlarged General Assembly elects its seats by region, with three places for Africa.
African countries and many others have argued that the arrangement shortchanges the continent, which now has the world’s fastest-growing population of 1.3 billion. The continent’s 54 countries make up 28 percent of the U.N.’s membership. Five of the U.N.’s 11 current peacekeeping operations are in Africa, as are four of the top 10 troop-sending countries.
The African Union, a regional group, has called for two additional elected seats – bringing the total to five – and two permanent seats for countries on the continent.
The issue of permanent seats, in particular, must be “resolved urgently,” Namibian Foreign Minister Peya Mushelenga urged on Monday.
Any change in the council’s composition would be up to the General Assembly, which has been negotiating for years. Assembly President Dennis Francis said Monday that Africa is “grossly underrepresented” on the council and that the status quo is “simply wrong.”
But U.N. member countries have floated many different ideas for changing the council, and any move to accommodate Africa would likely spark pressure to consider other proposals. The United States, for example, supports adding permanent seats for countries from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, among others.
“Let’s stop looking at the problem here. We need to move on to solutions,” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, whose previous postings include several African countries, told the Council.
Mr Bio, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council, urged the group to support the idea of prioritising his continent in any structural change.
“Africa can no longer wait,” he insisted.