UN Reform : Africa Deserves Its Place

Some 77 years after the United Nations Organisation was formed in 1945 by the victorious powers of the Second World War – China, Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union (today, Russia) and the United States of America, USA -  the world body remains mired in the legacy of the past. With the five UN Security Council permanent members, backed by their veto power, dictating the pace of what is allowed to happen across the globe. With other nations watching helplessly from the sidelines.
Since 2005, the case has been repeatedly made of the need, and even urgency, for Africa to have a voice on the UN Security Council. “The Central African Republic reiterates its support to the common position of the African Union,” said CAR President Faustin Archange Touadera at the UN General Assembly last September in New York. He recalled that the AU position “calls for an in-depth reform of the UN and the expansion of the seats of the members of the Security Council for fairer participation and more representation of all continents.”
Among the criteria proposed by the UN “Report of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change” (the Report on UN Reforms) is that the new members of the UN Security Council must have contributed “most to the United Nations financially, militarily and diplomatically.” Particularly UN assessed budgets and participation in mandated peace operations. Also, the new members should represent the broader UN membership, increase the democratic and accountable nature of the Security Council, and should not impair its effectiveness. 
“The exclusion of Africa from the permanent member category of the Security Council can no longer be justified,” argued former Nigerian Pre...