AU should be part of UN Security Council – Think Tank
The GREAT Partnership, a UK-based think tank on Tuesday called on the 68th General Assembly of the United Nations to include the African Union (AU) to the Permanent Membership of the Security Council with Veto Rights.
This, the body said would facilitate racial equality, human rights and break the monopoly of the permanent members, contrary to the principles and values of the UN Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Protection of Indigenous Peoples Rights.
A statement issued by Dr Koku Adomdza, President of GREAT Partnership in the UK and copied to Ghana News Agency in Accra, said the post-war status quo composition of Permanent Membership of the UN Security Council of the United States, China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom suggests a prevalence of international institutional discrimination against Africa and Africans.
He said although the UN has 193 sovereign member states and calls itself the international community, it has no monopoly over being the only international force for good.
Dr Adomdza said the international community status should be reflected in the racial balance of Permanent Membership on the Security Council and who wields veto powers.
He said the expansion of the Security Council and the Rotational Elective Term-time Membership gives the body a flavour of inclusivity but does not deal satisfactorily with the fundamental issue of racially-balanced Permanent Membership or Veto Rights.
“We expect that the UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon, the African Union and African Diplomatic Caucus at the UN to exert formidable diplomacy, negotiations and pressure to achieve this important change of inclusion for the 1.3 billion Africans with deliberate haste,” he said.
Dr Adomdza warned that if the UN does not act now, the think tank would advocate the change, in accordance with international norms, conventions and laws.
Source: GNA