Niger, Tunisia et al take seats on UN Security Council

Niger and Tunisia were among countries elected as non-permanent members to the Security Council for a period of two years.

Seven candidates ran for five seats including Viet Nam ,Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, El Salvador, Estonia and Romania.

Khemaies Jhinaoui is Tunisian Foreign Minister.

Tunisia will be the voice for human rights.

“Tunisia, a nation in democracy, which has made major strides in the last few years in building new democratic system, will be the voice for human rights, and will be also the voice for the role women and women in contributing to peace building and peace settlement.”

Viet Nam had 192 votes, Niger: 191, Tunisia: 191, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: 185 votes, and Estonia: 132 votes.

“Our priority is – as you know I come from a state of the Sahel region – it is the fight against terrorism. Today this is no higher priority than this one in the world. Obviously, what does this call for? It calls for fighting the causes of terrorism which are mainly the result of underdevelopment”, said Nigerien Foreign Minister, Kalla Ankouraou.

All five non-permanent members of the Security Council will start their mandate on 1 January 2020.

They will replace Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial-Guinea, Kuwait, Peru and Poland whose mandates expire on 31 December 2019.