Minister asks African and Middle Eastern countries to support Mozambique’s candidacy for the UN Security Council

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Minister asks African and Middle Eastern countries to support Mozambique’s candidacy for the UN Security Council

3:27 CAT | 12 Oct 2020

File photo: Noticias

Mozambican Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Verónica Macamo, has asked African and Middle Eastern countries with diplomatic representation in the country to support Mozambique’s candidacy as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.

“The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has endorsed our candidacy; Mozambique will run for a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2023/2024 term, whose elections will take place in 2022,” she explained.

“Just as your countries can always count on our support, we are confident that we will deserve your support and confidence without reservations,” she added.

The foreign minister’s request was expressed in a meeting with representatives of diplomatic missions from Africa and the Middle East accredited in Mozambique.

The UN Security Council is made up of 15 members – five permanent, and 10 non-permanent elected for two-year terms with five being replaced each year. There is a fixed number of seats for the different regional groups into which the UN General Assembly is divided.

At Friday’s meeting in Maputo, the foreign minister took the opportunity to reinforce Mozambique’s request for cooperation in combatting the armed attacks in Cabo Delgado.

“We are talking about terrorism, a phenomenon that, although located in our country, has external origins and inspiration, and whose elimination therefore requires collective effort,” she said.

“In this context, we count on your support in the following: Provision of humanitarian support to meet the needs of displaced and besieged populations who live the drama of having lost everything; bilateral cooperation within SADC, African Union and other regional international organisations in the areas of Defence and Security, border control; combating organised crime and cybersecurity,” siad Minister Macamo, quoted by Domingo.

Mozambique was therefore calling for the provision of humanitarian aid to displaced populations, bilateral cooperation within international defence and security organisations and support for the siting of an SADC humanitarian and emergency operations centre in Nacala, Nampula province.

The northernmost coastal province of Mozambique, which borders Tanzania, faces a humanitarian crisis with more than 1,000 dead and 250,000 to 300,000 internally displaced after three years of armed conflict between Mozambican and rebel forces, some of whose attacks have been claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, but whose true origins remain unclear.

The region is expected to receive investments of around US$50 billion (€42.6 billion) in the coming years from natural gas projects led by the North American oil companies Exxon Mobil and French Total, which already has work underway in the province.

Source: Lusa / Domingo