African Group

Last updated
Group of African States
AbbreviationGAFS
Formation1964;61 years ago (1964)
Type Regional group
Legal statusActive
A coloured voting box.svg Politicsportal

The Group of African States, or African Group, is one of the five United Nations regional groups and is composed of 54 Member States from the African continent. [1] The African Group is the largest regional group, and compose 28% of all United Nations members.

Contents

The Group, as with all the regional groups, is a non-binding dialogue group where subjects concerning regional and international matters are discussed. Additionally, the Group works to help allocates seats on United Nations bodies by nominating candidates from the region. [2] [3]

Role

The Group, as with all the regional groups, plays a major role in promoting the region's interests. It provides a forum for Member States to exchange opinions on international issues, carry out follow-up on the topics that are being discussed in international organisations, build common positions on complex issues and prepare statements reflecting the joint position of the Group. [4] [5]

However, most importantly, the Group allows for the discussion and coordination of support for candidates for different United Nations organisations from the region. [2]

Member States

The following are the Member States of the African Group: [6] [7]

Representation

Security Council

The African Group currently holds three seats on the Security Council, all non-permanent. The current members of the Security Council from the Group are: [8] [9]

CountryTerm
Flag of Somalia.svg Somalia 1 January 2025 — 31 December 2026
Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 1 January 2024 — 31 December 2025 [10]
Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone

Economic and Social Council

The African Group currently holds 14 seats on the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The current members of the Economic and Social Council from the Group are: [11] [12]

CountryTerm
Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria

Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast Flag of Djibouti.svg  Djibouti Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania

1 January 2025 — 31 December 2027
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1 January 2024 – 31 December 2026
Flag of Mauritania.svg  Mauritania
Flag of Niger.svg  Niger
Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal
Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia
Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana 1 January 2023 — 31 December 2025
Flag of Cape Verde.svg  Cabo Verde
Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon
Flag of Equatorial Guinea.svg  Equatorial Guinea

Human Rights Council

The African Group currently holds 13 seats on the United Nations Human Rights Council. The current members of the Human Rights Council from the Group are: [13] [14]

CountryTerm
Flag of Benin.svg  Benin

Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg  DR Congo Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia Flag of The Gambia.svg  Gambia Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya

1 January 2025 — 31 December 2027
Flag of Burundi.svg  Burundi 1 January 2024 — 31 December 2026
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Cote d'Ivoire
Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana
Flag of Malawi.svg  Malawi
Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 1 January 2023 — 31 December 2025
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
Flag of Sudan.svg  Sudan

Presidency of the General Assembly

Every five years in the years ending in 4 and 9, the African Group is eligible to elect a president to the General Assembly. [15]

The following is a list of presidents from the Group since its official creation in 1963: [16]

Year ElectedSessionName of PresidentCountryNote
196419th Alex Quaison-Sackey Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana
196924th Angie E. Brooks Flag of Liberia.svg  Liberia
197429th Abdelaziz Bouteflika Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria
197934th Salim A. Salim Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania Also chaired the 6th and 7th emergency special, and 11th special sessions of the General Assembly
198439th Paul J. F. Lusaka Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia
198944th Joseph Nanven Garba Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria Also chaired 16th, 17th and 18th special sessions of the General Assembly
199449th Amara Essy Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Côte d'Ivoire
199954th Theo-Ben Gurirab Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia Also chaired the 22nd, 23rd and 24th special sessions of the General Assembly
200459th Jean Ping Flag of Gabon.svg  Gabon
2009 64th Ali Abdussalam Treki Flag of Libya.svg  Libya Also chaired the 29th special session of the General Assembly
2014 69th Sam Kahamba Kutesa Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda
2019 74th Tijjani Muhammad-Bande Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria
2024 79th Philémon Yang Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon
Future
202984thTBATBA
203489thTBATBA

References

  1. ↑ Staff writer (2025). "African Group". www.ipu.org. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  2. 1 2 Agam, Hasmy; Sam Daws; Terence O'Brien; Ramesh Takur (26 March 1999). What is Equitable Geographic Representation in the Twenty-First Century (PDF) (Report). United Nations University. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  3. ↑ Volger, Helmut, ed. (2010). "Archived copy" (PDF). A Concise Encyclopedia of the United Nations (2nd ed.). Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN   978-90-04-18004-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  4. ↑ "Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. n.d. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  5. ↑ "Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries in the United Nations (GRULAC)". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. n.d. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  6. ↑ "Regional groups of Member States". United Nations Department for General Assembly and Conference management. United Nations. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  7. ↑ "United Nations Handbook 2018–19" (PDF). United Nations Handbook:: An Annual Guide for Those Working within the United Nations (56 ed.). Wellington: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand: 15–17. 2018. ISSN   0110-1951.
  8. ↑ "Current Members". United Nations Security Council. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  9. ↑ "General Assembly Elects Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Tunisia, Viet Nam as Non-Permanent Members of Security Council for 2020-2021". United Nations Meetings Coverage & Press Releases. United Nations. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  10. ↑ "UN elects five new members to serve on the Security Council". UN News. 2021-06-11. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
  11. ↑ "Members". United Nations Economic and Social Council. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  12. ↑ "General Assembly Elects 19 Economic and Social Council Members to Terms Beginning 1 January 2020, Adopts Resolution Commemorating Signing of United Nations Charter". United Nations Meetings Coverage & Press Releases. United Nations. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  13. ↑ "Current Membership of the Human Rights Council, 1 January - 31 December 2019 by regional groups". United Nations Human Rights Council. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  14. ↑ "General Assembly Elects 14 Member States to Human Rights Council, Appoints New Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services". United Nations Meetings Coverage & Press Releases. United Nations. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  15. ↑ Wanza, Serah N. (27 November 2017). "What Are The Five Regional Groups of the United Nations?". Worldatlas. Worldatlas. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  16. ↑ "Past Presidents". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.