Ethiopian PM demands permanent seat for Africans at UN Security Council

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopian Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed has said that African issues should not be discussed and resolved at the United Nations Security Council without Africans themselves having a seat at the world body, just hours after returning from the battle field where Ethiopian federal forces have been fighting rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front.

Several African leaders have demanded, during various UN General Assembly meetings in New York, expansion of the United Nations Security Council to include permanent representation for their continent and stressed the vital role of socio-economic development in ensuring peace.

In 2018, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called for “the expansion in the permanent and non-permanent category of the Security Council from 15 to 26 seats.”

“Since the advent of our democracy, South Africa has positioned itself as a force for good in the world and as a contributor to the forward march of humanity,” added Ramaphosa.

In a support for the call, Ahmed said Africa is a continent of 1.3 billion people and such a continent should have an effective representation at the UN Security Council because issues related to Africa should not be solved while there is no representation of the African people.

“I join other African leaders in reiterating that a continent of around 1.3 billion people needs a permanent voice and seat at the UNSC represented through a bloc,” he wrote in a tweet just a few hours after returning from the front lines in northern Ethiopia.

“Issues and decisions that concern the continent cannot continue being addressed without continental representation,” he added.