New Delhi: India is planning a change in its strategy to push for reforms and expansion of the UN Security council with an eye on bagging a permanent seat in the expanded Security Council. New Delhi has barely six months left for its two-year term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council to end. As part of its new strategy India has decided to side with the L69 Group (comprising 41 countries from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific) leaving aside the G4 agenda.
Tokyo: The reform of the United Nations Security Council is high on the agenda for global governance. Despite profound changes in global realities, the basic structure of the Security Council has not changed significantly from its original form of 1945. Many States have strongly advocated the formation of a more legitimate, representative, effective and efficient Council, including an increase in both the permanent and non-permanent seats. The discussion on reform has continued for nearly 20 years.
United Nations: At the height of the Cold War, a Peruvian diplomat, Dr. Victor Andres Belaunde, publicly expressed scepticism about the ability of small countries to survive the diplomatic might of the big powers in the world body. The United Nations, he was quoted as saying as far back as the 1960s, is an institution "where there is always something that disappears".
United Nations: Amnesty International delivered a scathing condemnation of global and national leadership in its 2012 global human rights report on Tuesday, conveying profound disappointment in such leadership for its failure to match the determination and resilience of ordinary civilians in their resistance to repressive regimes.
Cape Town: At the invitation of the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Mr Kgalema Motlanthe, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, ARC. Mohammed Namadi Sambo, visited South Africa from 22 to 23 May 2012 to attend the 8th Session of the South Africa – Nigeria Bi-National Commission (BNC).
Lagos: President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, on Tuesday, sought the support of the Chinese government in Nigeria’s quest for a permanent seat in the United Nation Council. Mark, who made this request through the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mr Deng Boqing, said: “we seek the support of your country in our quest for a permanent seat in the United Nations Council.”
Lagos: Chairman of the African Union and President of Benin Republic, Mr. Boni Yayi has insisted that the membership of the Security Council of the United Nations has to change to represent wider interest of African and that no other country qualifies to represent African on the Council other than Nigeria. Yayi stated this Tuesday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International where he held a closed door meeting to brief President Goodluck Jonathan to brief him on how far he has gone in ensuring that the Chairman of the African Union Commission was selected and his drive to secure a seat at the Security Council.
New York: The United Nations General Assembly today narrowly avoided an “intense, politically complex” procedural floor battle after the Swiss Ambassador withdrew a contentious draft resolution, sponsored by “small” countries, containing a set of recommendations for making the Security Council more transparent and accountable.
Beijing: Although the world is a much different place since the United Nations was founded 67 years ago, the structure of the world's most authoritative international body remains almost unchanged, making it ever more difficult to meet its commitments to world peace. Reform now seems inevitable and necessary, yet China firmly opposes to any piece of reform proposal that could not address this urgent and paramount task comprehensively, including a draft on improving the working methods of the UN Security Council (UNSC), which was put forward by Switzerland, Costa Rica, Jordan, Liechtenstein and Singapore and was under discussion this week.
United Nations: The 193-member General Assembly is expected to vote on a resolution - described as "historic" - requesting the five permanent members (P5) of the Security Council to consider "refraining from using their vetoes on action aimed at preventing or ending genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity". But the P5 has already indicated that the General Assembly, the U.N.'s highest policymaking body, has no business offering such recommendations to the Security Council.
