Youths Join Struggles for African Representation on the UNSC

Youths, under the umbrella of the Young African Leaders Forum, have commended the African Union Committee of Ten Heads of State on the UN Reform for their commitment to get Africa on the permanent seat at the UNSC.

The youth leaders, who hail from different countries within Africa, initiated and started a campaign dubbed #Africa@UNSecurityCouncil, which acknowledges that Africa is part of the international community and its diverse range of problems of peace and security issues deserve to have a permanent seat at the UNSC.

Speaking on the matter President of the Young African Leaders Forum (YALF), Prince Ifoh, said it was important the United Nations maintain its gains and live up to the expectations of the changing world.

According to Ifoh, the continent deserves to have a permanent seat at the UNSC since up to 70% of the Security Council themes and agenda are about Africa.

He maintained that the UN General Assembly is obviously not meeting the present day demands and this is why there have been several calls for the reforms of the United Nations all over the globe.

Ifoh stressed that since Africa is central destination for trades and investments for many nations of the world, her security issues remain a threat to the entire international community.

He added that the spate of terrorism and conflicts in Africa is a clear evidence that the spotlight is on the continent, not Europe and America as was in 1945.

He concluded that Africa needs to contribute effectively at the helm of its security affairs in order to perfectly outfight insurgencies in the continent.

In recent times, there have been several cases of insurgencies in Africa. The troubles of Boko Haram in Nigeria, Al-Shabaab in Kenya and the rebels in Somalia have led to the loss of many Innocent lives.

The campaign hash-tags #Africa@UNSecurityCouncil and #Africa4UNSecurityCouncil have started gaining recognition on the social media.

The Ezulwini Consensus and the LivingStone Committee of Ten Heads of State have continued to press for the restructure of the United Nations which would see one African nation occupy a permanent seat at the UNSC to defend the African interest.