Minister Odongo Calls for Swift UN Security Council Reforms at C10 Meeting

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gen. Odongo Jeje Abubakhar, stressed that the ongoing Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) process for the UN Security Council reform has been too slow, has taken rather too long, and appears to be stagnating.

The minister made these remarks during the 11th Ministerial Meeting of the African Union Committee of Ten (C10) on the reform of the United Nations Security Council held on June 10 in Algiers, Algeria.

The meeting provided an opportunity for C10 Foreign Ministers to engage and take stock of the current state of play in the ongoing IGN at the United Nations General Assembly, to develop a strategy as the group continues to advance the Common African Position (CAP) and the next steps in the IGN process.

Gen. Odongo observed that although there have been some convergences on a number of clusters within major negotiating groups, there are simply too many divergences, meaning there is not sufficient common ground to move the process forward toward fruitful intergovernmental negotiations.

Gen. Odongo emphasised that Africa must overcome its weakness due to disunity and speak with one voice on all aspects of the reform process.

He reaffirmed Uganda's support for comprehensive reform of the UN Security Council, without any further delay, to address the long-standing injustice and imbalance in the present configuration of the UNSC.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Minister Odongo paid a courtesy call on Abdelmadjid Tebboune, President of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria.

He also held bilateral talks with Ahmed Attaf, Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad of Algeria, and exchanged views on areas of cooperation between the two countries.

The C10 is composed of ten African countries set up by the African Union (AU) with the mandate to advocate and canvass the African Common Position (CAP) on the Reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), as stipulated in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration.

The C10 Member States are Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Libya, Namibia, Senegal, Sierra Leone (Coordinator), Uganda, and Zambia.

The Minister was accompanied by Ambassador Philip Odida, Acting Director of Regional and Political Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Amb. Rebecca Otengo, Permanent Representative to the African Union in Addis Ababa, among other senior officials.