Japan advocates for an Africa seat on the UN Security Council

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, is pushing for the establishment of an African seat at the United Nations by using its place on the world body’s Security Council. While speaking at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Tunisia on Sunday, Japan’s Premier stated that Japan reiterates its determination to redress the historical injustice against Africa of not being represented through a permanent membership on the Security Council.

According to Mr. Kishida, “in order for the UN to work effectively for peace and stability, there is an urgent need to strengthen the UN as a whole through Security Council reform.”

Japan was one of the five countries elected In June, to hold a non-permanent seat on on the council for the years 2023 and 2024.

Made up of 15 members, the UNSC has five of whom are permanent and have veto-wielding power: the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom. While the other 10 positions are filled by countries for two-year stints, five of which are announced each year.

Speaking live on video from Tokyo, Kishida restated a pledge announced on Saturday to invest around $30bn in Africa over the next three years, promising smaller sums for food security in coordination with the African Development Bank.
He also announced Japan would appoint a special envoy to the Horn of Africa, where a long drought has prompted the UN’s weather agency to warn last week of an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe”.

Kishida said Japan would pump $8.3m into the troubled, gold-rich Liptako-Gourma tri-border area between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, which has been ravaged by attacks from armed groups in recent years.