African states want a seat on the UN Security Council – DW – 29.08.2024

In an exclusive interview with DW, Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera highlighted a problem that has preoccupied many of his African counterparts for years: the underrepresentation of African countries in the UN Security Council.

“We have been pushing for a rethink so that Africa becomes a serious participant at the negotiating table, especially in the (UN) Security Council,” Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera said in an exclusive interview with DW. “I ask these questions every time I have the opportunity to speak.”

The Council is made up of five permanent members: Russia, the United States, China, the United Kingdom and France. They all have veto power, meaning that any of the six countries can unilaterally vote against a resolution to protect its national interests, even if the others have agreed. The remaining ten seats are non-permanent and are allocated regionally.

Africa has only three seats on the 15-member council, currently occupied by Sierra Leone, Algeria and Mozambique. But considering that African countries make up 28 percent of UN membership, many countries complain that they are not adequately represented in one of the UN’s most prestigious bodies.

Calls for an expansion of the Security Council have grown louder recently. It is not only African countries that want more representation. While there is a general feeling that the Council needs reform, discussions have stalled due to disagreements over how much the group should be expanded, which countries should be included and what powers it should have.

Permanent seats for Africa: a distant dream?

On August 12, the UN Security Council held a crucial meeting to address Africa’s historic underrepresentation. Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio told the Security Council that after decades of seeking greater say in the United Nations’ most powerful body, Africa “cannot wait any longer.”

“Africa demands two permanent seats on the UN Security Council and two additional non-permanent seats, bringing the total number of non-permanent seats to five,” Bio stressed, adding: “The African Union will select the African permanent member. Africa wants the abolition of the veto.”

“However, if UN member states wish to retain their veto power, it must, for reasons of fairness, be extended to all new permanent members.”

Bio chairs the African Union Committee of Ten Heads of Government (C-10), which seeks to reform the Security Council. He has been particularly vocal this year because Sierra Leone currently holds the Council Presidency for August as a non-permanent member.

Why Africa is underrepresented

Critics argue that the current structure of the Security Council is outdated and unfair. In the long-running debate over African representation, analysts say it is clear that the 54 African countries play a crucial role in global peace efforts, but the council in its current composition stifles the continent’s voice.

“We cannot accept that the world’s most important peace and security organ does not have a permanent voice for a continent of well over a billion people – a young and fast-growing population – who make up 28% of the membership of the United Nations,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a UN Security Council meeting earlier this month.

“We also cannot accept that Africa’s views are undervalued on issues of peace and security, both on the continent and globally,” Guterres added.

Guterres also noted that over 40 percent of UN peacekeeping forces are in Africa, stressing that in times of crisis and geopolitical division, African countries are often among the first to advocate for peace, multilateral solutions and respect for international law and the UN Charter.

“But African efforts and contributions are disproportionate to African representation.”

What does the Security Council do?

The Security Council was established in 1945 to maintain peace after World War II. It can impose sanctions, send peacekeeping missions and pass legally binding resolutions. Its composition reflects the power structure of the post-war period, when most of Africa was under European colonial rule.

UN member countries have put forward various proposals to change the council, but any move that accommodates Africa would likely create pressure to consider other proposals. The United States, for example, supports the creation of permanent seats for countries from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, to name a few.

Editor: Chrispin Mwakideu