Germany, Indonesia, South Africa, Dominican Republic, Belgium, elected to Security Council
Peace and Security
In a single round of voting on Friday, the United Nations General Assembly elected five new non-permanent Members of the Security Council, who will each serve two-year terms on the body that sets the UN’s whole peace and security agenda.
Germany, Indonesia, South Africa, the Dominican Republic and Belgium, will take up their seats from 1 January 2019.
They will fill the seats being vacated by Bolivia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, and Sweden at the end of this year, having each served two-year terms on the 15-member Security Council, as well as the seat occupied by the Netherlands during the course of this year. In an unusual arrangement, the Dutch shared the seat, with Italy occupying it during 2017.
The other five non-permanent members who will remain on the Council are Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, Peru and Poland.
Under the UN Charter, the Security Council has the primary responsibility for international peace and security, with all UN Member States required to comply with Council decisions.
The Council’s ten non-permanent seats, are allocated according to a rotation pattern set by the Assembly in 1963, to ensure fair regional representation on the Council: five from African and Asian and Pacific States; one from Eastern Europe; two from Latin American States; and two from Western European and Other States (WEOG).
Belgium and Germany; the Dominican Republic, and South Africa, ran unopposed from their respective regional groups, while Indonesia secured its place following a run-off with the Maldives for the Asia-Pacific Group seat.
This will be the Dominican Republic’s first time on the Security Council with the other four countries having previously served on the body.
Five Member States have permanent seats on the Council, namely China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.