On Friday, in a single round of voting, the United Nations General Assembly elected five recent non-permanent members of the Security Council, each of whom will serve a two-year term on the body that sets the whole UN agenda for peace and security.
Germany, Indonesia, South Africa, the Dominican Republic and Belgium will take up their seats from January 1, 2019.
They will take over the seats vacated at the top of this yr by Bolivia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands and Sweden after a two-year term on the 15-member Security Council.
Under the United Nations Charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for international peace and security, and all UN member states are obliged to abide by the Council’s decisions.
The Council’s ten non-permanent seats are allocated on a rotation basis established by the Assembly in 1963 to make sure equitable regional representation on the Council: five from African, Asian and Pacific countries; one from Eastern Europe; two from Latin American countries; and two from Western Europe and other countries (WEOG).
Belgium and Germany; The Dominican Republic and South Africa began unopposed from their regional groups, while Indonesia secured their place after a second round against the Maldives for a spot within the Asia-Pacific Group.
This will likely be the primary time the Dominican Republic will serve on the Security Council, with the opposite 4 countries having previously served on the body.
The remaining five seats on the council – often known as everlasting seats – are held by China, France, Russia, the UK and the US.
Source: UN News
