A Plea for Africa’s Permanent Representation on the United Nations Security Council: Towards International Equity and Justice Now!
The United Nations Security Council: A Historical Overview
Since its inception in the post-war era, the United Nations Security Council has played a pivotal role in international diplomacy and peacekeeping. But since its establishment in 1945, this powerful organization’s makeup has stayed mostly unchanged, mirroring a society that has long since passed. China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US, as the five permanent members, have a lot of authority, including veto power. Many nations, especially in Africa, were still under colonial control when this framework was designed during the post-war era. So, for a long time, many have said that the current makeup of the Security Council doesn’t reflect the geopolitical reality, especially when it comes to the interests and opinions of African nations.
António Guterres champions the Inclusion of Africa.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has made a strong and well-timed plea for change, urging the world community to make amends for this long-standing wrong by giving Africa a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. According to Guterres, the globe has changed a lot since 1945, but the Security Council hasn’t changed at all. Since 1945, a lot has changed. A more fair and representative body is urgently needed, he said, adding that the Council’s makeup has not kept pace despite a few modifications.
Ten regionally appointed non-permanent members serve staggered two-year terms on the Security Council. Nevertheless, their ability to influence crucial decisions is limited because they lack the veto power of the five permanent members. For a long time, the African Union (AU) has pushed for Africa to play a larger role, and they’ve even suggested giving the continent two permanent and two non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council. The goal of this plan is to increase representation from Africa in global decision-making processes, not just to increase the number of people participating.
The President of Sierra Leone and the African Argument
President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone made a strong argument for Africa’s representation on the Security Council during the most recent debate that the country hosted. The time for compromise and little steps forward is past, he said. African voices must be heard, and the continent’s aspirations for fairness and equality must be fulfilled. The urgent necessity for measures to rectify Africa’s longstanding underrepresentation in international governance systems is highlighted by President Bio’s statement.
The United Nations Security Council has extensive authority, including the ability to authorize peacekeeping missions, impose sanctions on a worldwide scale, and decide how the UN will respond to conflicts across the world. It is becoming more and more untenable to exclude Africa from permanent membership on the Security Council, considering the continent’s strategic importance and its large contributions to global peacekeeping efforts.
Beyond African Representation: Its Far-Reaching Effects
The fight for African representation on the Security Council has major geopolitical ramifications in addition to the goal of redressing historical wrongs. Along with Guterres, other high-ranking UN officials shared this view, including the UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis. The absence of a permanent voice for Africa in the United Nations’ most powerful organization stands in stark contrast to the continent’s contributions to world peace and security, as Francis pointed out.
The lack of African representation, Guterres went on to say, is a major problem with the way the world is currently run. “We cannot accept that the world’s preeminent peace and security body lacks a permanent voice for a continent of well over a billion people—a young and rapidly growing population—making up 28% of the membership of the United Nations,” said the president. While Africa is heavily involved in the global issues that these organizations seek to resolve, it is conspicuously absent from the Security Council and international financial institutions.
Peacekeeping and Conflict Resolution on a Global Scale: Africa’s Contribution
Many wars have broken out in Africa throughout its history, spurred on by rival factions vying for control of the continent’s abundant natural riches. Despite the importance of these resources to the world economy, the continent has not been given a fair share of power in the bodies tasked with managing them and resolving conflicts that arise from them. Nearly half of the United States’ peacekeeping missions take place in Africa, and forty percent of the UN’s peacekeepers are nationals of African states, as Guterres pointed out. Africa needs a bigger voice in issues that directly affect the continent, given its disproportionate engagement in peacekeeping.
In addition, Guterres said that the world community should do more to ensure that Africa’s UN representation reflects the continent’s substantial achievements. According to him, the existing setup fails to capture the true magnitude of Africa’s impact on the international stage.
Reform: An Importance of Ethics and Strategy
There are moral and practical reasons to change the United Nations Security Council so that Africa has permanent representation. Guterres stressed that reform is required to improve the credibility and efficacy of the Council’s rulings, in addition to being an issue of fairness. “It is also a strategic imperative that can increase global acceptance of the council’s decisions—benefitting Africa and the world,” according to him.
After WWII, the United Nations was founded with the goal of promoting world peace and preventing future wars. Despite this, the original charter only included four African countries: South Africa, Ethiopia, Liberia, and Egypt. Among the more than one billion people currently residing in Africa, a large portion of the population is youthful and experiencing fast population growth. Permanently excluding such a large demography from the Security Council is becoming more and more unacceptable.
Final Thoughts: Moving Forward
Redressing past wrongs and giving all regions a say in global governance necessitates that Africa be granted permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council. The governing bodies of a society need to adapt to a dynamic world. Not only would a permanent African seat on the Security Council represent the continent’s increasing clout, but it would also strengthen the UN’s credibility and ability to tackle the complicated problems of the modern day. A more fair and equal world is within reach, and the world’s population must step up to the plate today.
