SVG begins term on Security Council

Yesterday was the first day on the job for St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) at the United Nations Security Council, as this country takes up a two-year non-permanent seat.

On January 2, during a Flag Installation Ceremony, SVG joined Estonia, Niger, Vietnam and Tunisia as incoming members.

In brief remarks at the ceremony, SVG’s Permanent Representative Rhonda King said the day is an historic one, not only because SVG is the smallest nation ever to sit on the Council, but “also perhaps because the urgency of now calls for fresh, disinterested and impartial perspectives on the seemingly tractible problems of our day.

“SVG has no geo-political axe to grind, we are just a young nation that yearns for a better world.”

King said the SVG team largely comprises young, well educated, enthusiastic and creative thinkers, two-thirds of whom are female.

On June 7, 2019, of the 193 member states of the General Assembly, SVG secured 185 votes in its bid to secure the seat. El Salvador, who ran for the same seat, received six votes. There were two abstentions.

SVG’s term on the Council began on January 1, 2020 and ends on December 31, 2021.

There are five permanent members of the UN Security Council and five other non-permanent members whose term ends on December 31, 2020.