South African President Jacob Zuma addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday night pressing for the transformation of the U.N. Security Council, particularly to allow Africa to hold permanent seats in the council.
The Security Council comprises 15 members; the United Kingdom, France, China, the United States and Russia all have permanent seats, while the remaining 10 are non-permanent members that serve two year terms on a rotational basis, without veto power – one of the more contentious issues.
The current 10 non-permanent members are: Argentina, Australia, Chad, Chile, Jordan, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Nigeria, Republic of Korea and Rwanda.
The council is the U.N's most powerful body as it helps to shape international law, is the first to respond to crises and can make binding decisions concerning war and peace. Many of the situations the UN body has to deal with concern African nations, one reason the continent has been pushing for more decision making abilities.
“Let me reiterate that the 70th anniversary of the U.N. next year provides an opportunity for us to seriously reflect on the need to reform this august body, moving beyond words to action,” said Zuma.
“Some contentious aspects of the U.N. system such as the veto powers and the exclusion of regions such as Africa in the Security Council are some of the critical matters that cannot be ignored in the quest for transformation,” he added.
This is not the first time African nations, or other regions, have urged the United Nations for a permanent seat on the council. Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe made similar requests in his address to the U.N. general assembly last year.
But the pleas started in 2005, when African Union members pressed for reforms calling for two permanent seats for Africa with veto rights, but so far the UNSC has been unwilling to address the issue.
In his speech, President Zuma also touched South Africa's progress on attaining the Millenium Development Goals, the Ebola crisis in West Africa, condemned the violence committed by both Israel and Hamas in recent fighting, and thanked the international body for creating the United Nations Nelson Mandela Prize, amongst other things.