The United Nations General Assembly votes today to elect 5 non-permanent members of the Security Council.
The Security Council is a UN body with 15 members, of which 5 are permanent members, including the United States, France, Russia and China, as well as 10 non-permanent members. two years old.
Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates are competing, without competitors from the respective regions, for 5 countries. But to be elected, each of them must secure two-thirds of the votes of UN member states. Voting is secret. Albania is the only country that has never been a member of the Security Council.
States usually announce their candidacy for the Security Council years ago. But it happens that there are also countries competing at the last minute. This year, the Democratic Republic of Congo decided last month to run, questioning the almost certain membership of two other African countries, Gabon and Ghana. This week, however, reports from Africa noted that the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, has decided to withdraw his candidacy.
The Security Council is committed to international peace and security. It has the power to send peacekeepers to troubled regions, as well as to approve sanctions.
‘Miserable’
His actions are supposed to prevent and resolve conflicts, but in recent years, critics say conflicting views, particularly between the five permanent members, have blocked decision-making on urgent matters.
“The Security Council’s response to recent crises has been miserable,” Louis Charbonneau, director of Human Rights Watch for the United Nations, told VOA.
“For the war crimes in Gaza, the massive human rights violations in Myanmar, or the crimes in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the many that the Security Council has done, and this, if it has been lucky, has simply been the expression of concern ”.
The annual vote to elect 5 out of 10 non-permanent members brings together hundreds of diplomats at the General Assembly, where candidate countries finalize their months-long campaign to be elected.
But UN facilities are in the heart of New York, hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. The city announced reopening three weeks ago, but some restrictions are still in place within the UN premises, which will result in fewer diplomats being physically present at the polls.
Candidate countries will replace the five current members, Estonia, Nigeria, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam.
The mandate of the new members starts on January 1st. The other five countries in the group of 10 non-permanent members are India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway./VOA
