United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his opinion on changing the current way the United Nations Security Council (SC) is arranged. Admitting that Africa is underrepresented in the most powerful organization in the world, he stood in support of giving an African country a permanent seat in the Security Council. This organ of the UN is the crucial element of the whole structure, de facto responsible for electing the Secretary-General.
As of now, ten countries have non-permanent seats in the Security Council and five countries take fixed seats in the SC: USA, Russia, China, France and the UK.
African leaders such as President Macky Sall and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also expressed their criticism about the lack of representation of Africa in the UNSC. Even though there are 54 countries on this continent, Africa is still ignored concerning the balance of power. This results in a weak representation of the fastest-growing continent on Earth.
The UN chief, Antonio Guterres, agrees with this standpoint, supporting the idea of UNSC reformation. He highlighted that, even though he stands firmly in favor of such a solution, he is not the decision-maker in this case. The UN member states are the ones who should decide on such a fragile matter.
Currently, Gabon, Ghana, and Kenya are non-permanent United Nations Security Council members. While Kenya's two-year term ends in 2022, those of Gabon and Ghana end in 2023.
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