Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) – Zambian President Edgar Lungu is hopeful that Saturday’s African Union (AU) summit, held in Livingstone, southern Zambia, will help in securing Africa a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
President Lungu, who spoke Friday ahead of the AU Committee of 10 (C10) Summit, said Africa deserves a permanent seat because it has more countries compared to other continents.
He said the AU summit in Livingstone, whose decision will be presented to the 70th UN General Assembly, is important in achieving the continent’s goal, the state-run Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation reported Friday.
Three heads of state from Namibia, Sierra Leone and Zambia, attended Saturday’s summit, also to be attended by representatives from Algeria, Libya, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The summit, opened by President Lungu under the theme “The Livingstone Strategy for Accelerating the UN Reforms”, was intended to push Africa’s agenda on the United Nations (UN) reforms, particularly as regards the Security Council.
Sierra Leone President Enerst Bayi Koroma, told journalists in Livingstone that Africa deserves priority in effecting United Nations Security Council reforms because of its unique case.
He noted that Africa is the only continent which has no representation on the UN Security Council despite having the largest membership in the United Nations.
President Koroma said most of the issues discussed at the UN affect Africa hence the need to have two permanent seats on the Security Council.
He expressed concern at the slow pace at which the reforms at the United Nations are taking place and attributed this to some Security Council member’s reluctance to relinquish their veto powers.
And Zambia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba says the UN Security Council needs to reform to increase its effectiveness by embracing a continental representation approach.
Kalaba said in Livingstone that the task before the C10 summit is enormous because the outcome of the deliberations encompasses Africa’s resolve and purpose in the process to reform the UN Security Council.
The Zambian Foreign Affairs Minister said it is imperative that Africa continues to drive the process of having the UN Security Council reform.
The global community has started accepting Africa’s new collective dimension as a continent that speaks with one voice, Kalaba said.
Photo: Luzaka Times
