Somalia has officially secured a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council— a laudable feat for the war-afflicted nation.
This will be the first time the country, which plunged into civil war over 30 years ago, has held the position since the 1970s.
There are 10 alternating non-permanent members on the council, working alongside the five permanent members: the US, the UK, France, China and Russia.
To clinch this enviable seat which carries influence in world affairs, a country needs to secure the support of at least two thirds of the General Assembly delegations who will be voting.
Somalia was voted in together with Denmark, Greece, Pakistan and Panama to serve for two years beginning from January next year.
It successfully secured the seat apportioned to the East African region unopposed and thereafter, went on to clinch 179 votes in a confidential ballot in the 193-member General Assembly.
The UN Security Council is charged with several significant responsibilities and can approve peacekeeping operations as well as impose international sanctions too.
In December 2023, it annulled a long-term arms embargo on Somalia.
Non-permanent members of the council are distributed by region, but contrary to the five permanent members, they do not have the power of veto.
There are presently three non-permanent African states on the council; Algeria, Sierra Leone and Mozambique, which Somalia will now replacing.
What They’re Saying
Somalia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmed Fiqi, who chaired a delegation of Somali officials to New York, had after the win, said his country would now finally take up “its position on the global stage”.
James Swan, the UN secretary general’s acting special representative for Somalia, said the country’s experiences placed it in a unique position to contribute to the Security Council’s deliberations on international peace and security.
