Mozambique Takes Two-Year Seat at UN Security Council, Replacing Kenya
Mozambique’s United Nations Ambassador Pedro Comissário Afonso, left, installs his country’s flag during ceremony for five newly-elected non-permanent members to serve on the United Nations Security Council for the term 2023-2024, Tuesday Jan. 3, 2023 at U.N. headquarters.
Muhammad OsmanThe United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, consists of 15 member states, of whom five are permanent (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), while the other 10 are non-permanent members elected on a two-year basis.Mozambique has officially taken a seat at the United Nations Security Council for the next two years, replacing fellow African country Kenya.Having won the UNSC non-permanent seat in June 2022, Mozambique, along with Ecuador, Japan, Malta, and Switzerland were welcomed into the 15-nation body on Tuesday, with the ambassadors of the newly joining members installing the flags of their nations alongside those of the old members outside the council chambers.The African country will be represented at the UNSC by its Ambassador Pedro Comissario Afonso, the head of the Republic of Mozambique’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.Marking the welcoming event at the council’s headquarters in New York, Afonso described it as a “historic date,” as it’s considered the first time for his country to take a seat at the UNSC since it was established in 1945 after the second World War.The new members replaced former representatives of the same countries, whose two-year terms ended by the end of December 2022, including Kenya, India, Ireland, Mexico, and Norway.Winning a seat at the UN Security Council gives Mozambique a chance to promote its profile globally as a bigger voice in major international issues.
AfricaRussia Seeks to Expand Parliamentary Cooperation With Mozambique, Council Speaker Says1 January, 08:10 GMTThe UN Security Council is tasked with maintaining international peace and security, as well as the deployment of peacekeeping forces, enacting international sanctions, and authorizing military action. It consists of 15 member states, of whom five are permanent: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The other 10 members are non-permanent and are elected for two-year terms, representing different world regions.Africa is represented at the council by three non-permanent seats, currently filled by Ghana, Gabon, and Kenya, with the latter now replaced by Mozambique.The African Union has long called for a more representative and democratic Security Council, where Africa, like other regions, would be represented by two permanent states, along with an additional two non-permanent seats. In 2005, the AU adopted the Ezulwini Consensus, a position on international relations and reform of the United Nations.The call for African representation at the council has been supported by many countries outside Africa, including Russia and the United States.In March 2018, during a meeting with the head of the AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced his country’s support for expanding the representation of nations in the developing world, including for Africans, at the UNSC.“We do not consider it possible to take a decision on the Security Council’s expansion unless the question of Africa’s mission is raised as part of this issue,” Lavrov said.In mid-December 2022, US President Joe Biden also reaffirmed his country’s support for the UNSC expansion during the Second US-Africa Leaders Summit.“The United States fully supports reforming the U.N. Security Council to include permanent representation for Africa,” the US president said.
