THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
Germany, Indonesia, South Africa, the Dominican Republic and Belgium, took up their seats on the UN Security Council as non-permanent members on 1 January 2019.
They were elected last June to serve two-year terms on the 15-member Security Council. The other five non-permanent members on the Council are Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, Peru and Poland.
Five countries have permanent seats on the Council, namely China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Under the UN Charter, the Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, with all Member States required to comply with its decisions.
Membership of the Security Council brings an opportunity to play at the highest level of global crisis management, say analysts.
The Council’s ten non-permanent seats are allocated according to a rotation pattern to ensure fair regional representation on the Council: five from African and Asian and Pacific States; one from Eastern Europe; two from Latin American States; and two from Western European and Other States.
Felix Dappah
