Addis Ababa: 02 January, 2016 (WIC)-The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) of Ethiopia said preparations are underway to bid for a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
In order to make the country a member of the Council, preparations are underway to carry out election campaign, do lobbying and draw lessons from other countries, Dr Tedros Adhanom, Foreign Affairs Minister said.
Successful activities were carried out at the Arab-Africa and Africa-South America summits held on the sideline of the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York, he said.
The country had expressed its stand at the ministerial and heads of states meeting held on South Sudan and Burkina Faso at the African Union as well as at the UN peacekeeping mission and UNSC meetings on terrorism, he said.
In addition to its active participation at the meeting convened to adopt the post 2015 development agenda, the country had delivered a speech at a meeting of the UNSC on Somalia by representing IGAD, he said,
Ethiopia is the only the East African country put forward as a candidate for membership as Seychelles had agreed to leave its candidature for Ethiopia, he said.
According to him, getting two-third vote from the present member states won’t be difficult for Ethiopia in order to be accepted by the UNSC.
Ethiopia had earned 186 of the 190 total votes during its election as a member of the UN Human Rights Council and this shows that the country is in pole position to become a non-permanent member.
Ethiopia had been a non-permanent member of the UNSC for two terms in 1967-68 and 1989-90, it was noted.