Ethiopia assumes Security Council presidency today

Addis ababa, September 1, 2017 (FBC) – Ethiopia will take over the presidency of the Security Council from Egypt today .
During its presidency of the Council, Ethiopia will prioritize strengthening the partnership between the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) in the area of peace and security.

It will also lead the UNSC delegation, which will participate at the 11th Annual Joint Consultative Meeting with the AUPSC, scheduled to take place on 7 and 8 September 2017 at the AU Headquarters, in Addis Ababa.

As president of the Security Council, Ethiopia will Co-chair this meeting together with the current chairperson of the AUPSC.

The annual consultation will be held after the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for enhanced partnership that the Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the AU Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat signed on April 19, 2017 to address common challenges of peace and security in the African continent.

In addition to the AU-UN partnership, African issues, such as Somalia, South Sudan and Lake Chad region will be considered during the month along with other issues of international peace and security that the Council has been seized with.

The highlight of the presidency would be the High Level Open Debate on the reform of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations scheduled to be held on 20 September, 2017.

The debate will be chaired by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia and is expected to be attended by Heads of State and Government as well as other high level officials of members of the Security Council and the wider membership of the United Nations.

The open debate will focus on recommendations from the previous Secretary-General and on the reform process initiated by the current Secretary-General.

Ethiopia is the largest African contributor to UN peacekeeping forces and the second largest contributor in the world with some 12,968 peacekeepers dispatched all over the world.

As the leading troop contributing country to the UN peacekeeping, Ethiopia attaches great importance to the reform and strengthening of the UN Peacekeeping so that it could be fit to address the challenges of the 21st century.

Ethiopia’s two-year term in the Security Council as a non-permanent member started on 1st January 2017 alongside Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Sweden and Italy. It is to be recalled that Ethiopia served in the Council as an elected member twice, in 1967 and ’68, and in 1989 and ’90.

Ethiopia as host to the headquarters of the African Union and the Chair of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), has been playing an important role in promoting the peace and stability of the region and the continent.

Ethiopia chairs the Security Council’s Ad-Hoc Working Group on Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa and in its activities in the Council, Ethiopia tries to play a constructive role in finding peace in conflict affected countries and areas and contributing to help address global problems such as terrorism, nuclear non-proliferation and the international refugee crisis.