UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other officials have called for a reform of the structure of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to grant Africa a permanent seat. During a high-level Security Council debate, Guterres emphasized that the UNSC’s current structure does not reflect today’s global realities, noting that Africa, with over a billion people, deserves a permanent voice on peace and security matters. Currently, the UNSC consists of five permanent members with veto power and 10 non-permanent seats, three of which are allocated to African states. Guterres’s call was echoed by the United Nations General Assembly President Dennis Francis and Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio. According to Francis, Africa’s lack of a permanent seat on the Security Council offends the principles of equity and inclusion. Bio, for his part, called for Africa to have two permanent and two additional non-permanent seats on the council.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA