UN security council: expand the permanent members
Seble Demeke, correspondent in Africa for UN Special
The 59th session of the United Nations General
Assembly is a unique session since it has included in its agenda the
sensitive subject of the reform of the UN Security Council, which is
the most powerful body of the United Nations. Under the UN Charter,
the Security Council is given the responsibility for protecting security
and maintaining peace around the world. It is the only UN body whose
decisions are legally binding on all members of the United Nations.
It is also the only body with the power to request troops and other
resources, human and financial, from the UN Member States.
Under the Charter and since the beginning of the United Nations in 1945, there are five permanent members of the Security Council: the United States of America, Great Britain, France, Russia and China. Each one of them has the power to veto any proposal put for- ward for the Council’s decision. In the current structure of the permanent members of the Security Council, there is no voice for Africa and Latin America.
Because of this fact and the need to enhance the response by the Security Council for peace and security and reduce dissatisfaction voiced by those who feel left out in the Council, the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan has appointed a “High Level Panel” to consider structural changes of the Council and present it to the current session of the General Assembly. In the mean time discussions are going on inside and outside of the UN echoed by the international media. Some countries including Japan, Germany, Brazil and India are campaigning to secure seats in the Security Council. African countries may also be forthcoming.
The further strengthening of the Permanent Membership of the Security Council of the United Nations for the purpose of making it more responsive and representative by extending its membership to include more countries has been the talk of the UN for decades. The purpose of the current proposal to be discussed during the 59th session, one would assume, is to balance countries in the Council’s membership and to give voices to those regions not represented at the Security Council level for the last 55 years of the existence of the United Nations. One would hope the challenges of the global world would be met by reducing the ever-increasing civil wars, destructions and lose of millions of innocent lives in the process. The world we live in has become a world of extreme hostility inhabited by those who have everything and those who have nothing. Any initiative for reforming the Security Council should therefore be welcome if it reduces extremism and fill the gap between those “who have” and those “who have not”. If, on the other hand the Council is represented by only those who have relatively everything and those who have little or nothing are omitted from the race, the reform would not meet its objectives and the initiative would be superficial.
The majority of the world’s population, including Africans and Latin Americans, do not understand the criteria for being considered as an active agent in this reform. One concrete example criteria for membership in the Secu- rity Council would be demonstrated peace- keeping and security role at the regional level. Unlike other regions, the African Union on several occasions has demonstrated this responsibility in action, among others, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Sierra Leone and recently in Sudan. This would lead us to raise several questions. What is the process of selection of the Permanent Members of the Security Council? Do countries formally apply for newly created vacancies? Do the current permanent members of the Security Council decide on who should be included as a candidate? Does the General Assembly of the United Nations have anything to do with the actual selection of the new Permanent Members of the Security Council?
While the need for an effective and more representative Security Council to service the peoples of the world has never been challenged, the current world affairs globalisation and interdependence have rendered the process more complex. Collective actions and responsibilities have become more evident and part and parcel of national life. At the global level countless international instruments put in place by the United Nations should lead to sustainable international peace and security.
Let us make sure therefore, that history is rendered transparent so that we do not need to regret or apologize fifty years from now for the decisions we are making today, as this will have a profound effect on the overall peace and security of all nations.
The author is retired from UNOG.