Sierra Leone: UN Security Council Seat - Sierra Leone's Fate to Be Decided Today

19 June 2023
Concord Times (Freetown)

The fate of Sierra Leone to secure a seat as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council will today be decided by member states at the United Nations Headquarters,New York.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations tasked with the primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security.

In May 2022, President Julius Maada Bio launched a bid to present Sierra Leone's candidature for a seat in the Non-Permanent Category of the UN security organ for the period 2024-2025.

If elected in June, it will be the second time Sierra Leone, the 100 member of the UN would have served as Non-Permanent member of the UN Security Council. The country was first elected into the council in 1971.

There 193 members state in the UN. To win the Security Council seat, Sierra Leone needs two-thirds of the member states votes at the UN General Assembly session next month. That means, the country is required to gather about 129 votes if all the member states vote.

Sierra Leon secured its candidacy against Nigeria which backed down to support Sierra Leone. And according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Union (AU) and the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS and other countries have also confirmed they will vote for Sierra Leone.

"For the first time Sierra Leone is going to get elected to go back to the security council after 50m years. We have done a lot of work in the last two years. We have done a lots of campaigns for this election," the Minister told the State Broadcaster last week.

"I'm very pleased to say as of today, we have got a lots of positive responses that they will vote for us on the 6th of June. The confirmation shows a mark of confidence that Sierra Leone will be elected to the UN Security Council for the non-permanent category for the period 2024-2025, Prof Francis added."

Read the original article on Concord.

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