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The UAE is elected to the UN Security Council

Sheikh Mohammed thanks Emirati diplomatic team, led by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, for the achievement

Published: Fri 11 Jun 2021, 8:06 PM

Updated: Mon 12 Jun 2023, 10:30 AM

  • By
  • Anjana Sankar

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Lana Nusseibeh, UAE's permanent Ambassador to UN, speaking at the UNGA's 75th plenary meeting. Photo: Twitter

Lana Nusseibeh, UAE's permanent Ambassador to UN, speaking at the UNGA's 75th plenary meeting. Photo: Twitter

The UAE has been elected unopposed to the UN Security Council for the 2022-2023 term by winning 179 votes out of the total 190 cast by the General Assembly members. The emirates will replace Tunisia in the Asia-Pacific slot when the mandate begins on January 1, 2022.

The 75th session of the General Assembly was held on Friday in New York to elect five new non-permanent members to the Security Council.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said the “election of the UAE to the Security Council for the period 2022-2023 reflects its active diplomacy, its international position... and its distinguished development model.”

In a tweet, Sheikh Mohammed said the achievement is “all thanks to the Emirati diplomatic team led by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed. We look forward to active, positive and active membership in the UN Security Council.”

It is the second time the emirates enters the most powerful diplomatic club that it previously served in 1986-87. Through its campaign titled ‘Stronger United’, the UAE pledges to use its credentials for inclusivity, innovation, resilience, peacebuilding, climate change mitigation and women empowerment

Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana are other nations that ran unchallenged for two-year terms. As the roll call for member countries started, the UAE’s Permanent Ambassador to the UN, Lana Nusseibeh, cast her vote.

The annual vote saw hundreds of diplomats gather at the General Assembly Hall at the New York headquarters. It saw the culmination of months-long intense campaigning by contesting countries.

Following the practice by candidate countries to hand out traditional treats to diplomats, UAE served coffee to the ‘hardworking diplomats’ at the UN headquarters as they geared up for the vote that began at 10am (New York time).

The countries running for the Security Council will replace exiting members Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam. The new members will take up their two-year terms on January 1.

They will join the five other non-permanent members — India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway.

Ahead of the voting, Nusseibeh said her country has a lot to offer to the UN in addressing world challenges.

"We believe that the UAE has a lot to contribute to the Security Council and to the multilateral system as a whole. We are a dynamic and forward-looking country in our region, a bridge-builder, a humanitarian leader, and a global hub of commerce, trade, and innovation," she said.

The UNSC has five permanent members – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia – who can veto decisions taken by the assembly. The permanent members are the heavyweights who can take legally binding decisions like imposing sanctions and sanctioning military actions. The other 10 non-permanent members serve overlapping two-year terms and are represented across regions.

How are the non-permanent members elected?

Each year the General Assembly elects five non-permanent members (out of 10 in total) for a two-year term. In accordance with the General Assembly resolution 1991 (XVIII) of 17 December 1963, the 10 non-permanent seats are distributed on a regional basis as follows: five for African and Asian States; one for the Eastern European States; two for the Latin American and Caribbean States; and two for Western European and other States.



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