The flag of our country will fly high in the UN headquarters in New York for the fourth time since Tunisia was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. The Security Council is composed of five permanent members (China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States of America) and 10 non-permanent members elected for two years by the General Assembly.
Tunisia will replace Equatorial Guinea from Africa, Vietnam will replace Kuwait from Asia and the Grenadines will replace Peru from Latin American. The Eastern European member is yet to be decided—either Estonia or Romania is expected to be chosen. The new members’ terms will commence on January 1, 2020.
The new membership holds significance in the context of African Continental Free Trade Agreement, that came into effect on May 30, 2019. Niger, Tunisia and continuing member South Africa are parties to this agreement. These states are likely to push for greater pan-African engagement with the EU through progress in the Economic Partnership Agreements, which are currently in different stages of development across various African countries.
Expect the African states to put forth measures towards greater financial and economic stability and infrastructure development in the continent.