Mozambique, a country in Southern Africa, has obtained a seat on the UN Security Council (UNSC), where it will serve a two-year term after being elected alongside Ecuador, Japan, Malta, and Switzerland in June 2022.
In place of Kenya, which left when its tenure ended in December, Mozambique will join Ghana and Gabon on the council. They act as temporary members of the 15-nation body.
While five of those countries; the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom are permanent members of the UN, the other ten are chosen by UN membership vote.
Mozambique is still dealing with its own security issues, including the fight against extremists in the Cabo Delgado region and persistent economic and budgetary difficulties. It also had a difficult time recovering from devastating tropical storms that wreaked havoc in the surrounding districts of Beira.
Mozambique’s President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi is among leaders who have called for increased UNSC representation and a rebalanced council to more equitably reflect Africa’s role in the global community.
The African Union and its members have long been concerned about this, as stated in the 2005 Ezulwini Consensus. Africans have pushed for changes that would give their countries two permanent members on the council and two more nonpermanent seats, but such ambitions have never materialized.
During the December U.S.-Africa Summit, US President Joe Biden voiced his support for the UNSC reform. Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, and others have already endorsed it.
-Kenya
Author-Roberta Appiah
