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Japan to push for African seat on UN Security Council, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says

  • Tokyo will aim to ‘redress the historical injustice against Africa’ of a lack of permanent membership on the Security Council, Kishida says
  • The leaders also underscored their commitment to better cope with a food crisis aggravated by Russia’s war in Ukraine

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Journalists at a media centre in Tunisia on Saturday as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (on screen) speaks remotely during the Tokyo International Conference on African Development. Photo: Kyodo
Reuters
Japan will use its place on the United Nations Security Council to push for an African seat on the top world body, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said.
Tokyo and the African nations also underscored their commitment to better cope with a food crisis aggravated by Russia’s war in Ukraine, as they wrapped up a two-day meeting in Tunisia on Sunday.

“Japan reiterates its determination to redress the historical injustice against Africa of not being represented through a permanent membership on the Security Council,” Kishida told the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Tunis on Sunday.

The United Nations headquarters in New York City. Photo: AFP
The United Nations headquarters in New York City. Photo: AFP

“In order for the UN to work effectively for peace and stability there is an urgent need to strengthen the UN as a whole through Security Council reform.”

The UN faces “a moment of truth”, he added.

Japan was among five countries elected in June to hold a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2023 and 2024.

Kishida, speaking over live video from Tokyo after testing positive for Covid-19 days earlier, reiterated a pledge announced on Saturday to invest some US$30 billion in Africa over the next three years.

He also announced that Japan would appoint a special envoy to the Horn of Africa, where a long drought has prompted the UN’s weather agency to warn this week of an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe”.

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