United Nations Security Council election, 2000

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United Nations Security Council election, 2000
Flag of the United Nations.svg
  1999 10 October 2000 2001  

5 (of 10) non-permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council


UNSC 2001.svg


Members before election

Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia (Africa)
Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia (Asia)
Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina (LatAm&Car)
Flag of Canada.svg  Canada (WEOG)
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands (WEOG)

Contents

New Members






Unsuccessful candidates
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy (WEOG)
Flag of Sudan.svg  Sudan (Africa)

The 2000 United Nations Security Council election was held on 10 October 2000 at United Nations Headquarters in New York City during the 55th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The General Assembly elected five non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year terms commencing on 1 January 2001.

New York City Largest city in the United States

The City of New York, usually called either New York City (NYC) or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States and in the U.S. state of New York. With an estimated 2017 population of 8,622,698 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 square miles (784 km2), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass and one of the world's most populous megacities, with an estimated 20,320,876 people in its 2017 Metropolitan Statistical Area and 23,876,155 residents in its Combined Statistical Area. A global power city, New York City has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, and exerts a significant impact upon commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. The city's fast pace has inspired the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.

United Nations Intergovernmental organization

The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization that was tasked to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international co-operation and be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, and is subject to extraterritoriality. Further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states. Its objectives include maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights, delivering humanitarian aid, promoting sustainable development and upholding international law. The UN is the largest, most familiar, most internationally represented and most powerful intergovernmental organization in the world. In 24 October 1945, at the end of World War II, the organization was established with the aim of preventing future wars. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there are now 193. The UN is the successor of the ineffective League of Nations.

United Nations General Assembly principal organ of the United Nations

The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), the only one in which all member nations have equal representation, and the main deliberative, policy-making, and representative organ of the UN. Its powers are to oversee the budget of the UN, appoint the non-permanent members to the Security Council, appoint the Secretary-General of the United Nations, receive reports from other parts of the UN, and make recommendations in the form of General Assembly Resolutions. It has also established numerous subsidiary organs.

The five candidates elected were Colombia, Ireland, Mauritius, Norway, and Singapore.

Colombia Country in South America

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a sovereign state largely situated in the northwest of South America, with territories in Central America. Colombia shares a border to the northwest with Panama, to the east with Venezuela and Brazil and to the south with Ecuador and Peru. It shares its maritime limits with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Colombia is a unitary, constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments, with the capital in Bogota.

Ireland Island in north-west Europe, 20th largest in world, politically divided into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (a part of the UK)

Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth.

Mauritius Island nation in the Indian Ocean

Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about 2,000 kilometres off the southeast coast of the African continent. The country includes the islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, 560 kilometres east of Mauritius, and the outer islands of Agaléga and St. Brandon. The islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues form part of the Mascarene Islands, along with nearby Réunion, a French overseas department. The area of the country is 2,040 km2. The capital and largest city is Port Louis. The island is widely known as the only known home of the dodo, which, along with several other avian species, was made extinct by human activities relatively shortly after the island's settlement.

Geographic distribution

In accordance with the General Assembly's rules for the geographic distribution of the non-permanent members of the Security Council, and established practice, the members were to be elected as follows: one from Africa, one from Asia, one from Latin American and the Caribbean (GRULAC), and two from Western Europe and Other States.

United Nations Regional Groups geopolitical regional groups of the UN

The United Nations Regional Groups are the geopolitical regional groups of the Member States of the United Nations. Originally, United Nations Member States were unofficially grouped into five geopolitical regional groups. However, what began as an informal means of sharing the distribution of posts for United Nations bodies quickly took on a much more expansive role. Depending on the context, the regional groups control elections to United Nations-related positions, on the basis of geographic representation, as well as coordinate substantive policy, and form common fronts for negotiations and voting.

Western European and Others Group

The Western European and Others Group (WEOG) is one of five unofficial Regional Groups in the United Nations that act as voting blocs and negotiation forums. Regional voting blocs were formed in 1961 to encourage voting to various UN bodies from regional groups. As of 2010, there are 28 member states, plus one observer. Almost all members are in Western Europe, but the WEOG is unusual in that geography is not the sole defining factor; Europe is divided between the WEOG and the Eastern European Group, and the WEOG also contains Canada, Australia, New Zealand, which are culturally and politically descended from Western European states but are located far away from them. Israel is also a permanent member, due to its strong cultural and historical links with Western Europe and its inability to join the Asian Group due to opposition by Arab countries. The group also contains one observer, the United States, which has voluntarily chosen not to participate as a member, and attends meetings as an observer only. However, it is considered to be a member for putting forward candidates for electoral purposes in the United Nations General Assembly. Turkey participates fully in both the WEOG and the Asian Group, but for electoral purposes is considered a member of the WEOG only.

Candidates

There was a total of seven candidates for the five seats. Colombia and Singapore would run unopposed for the one seat each reserved for GRULAC and the Asian Group, respectively. Singapore was also the endorsed candidate for the Asian Group. For the African Group, Sudan and Mauritius competed for the one seat reserved, Sudan being the group's endorsed candidate. For the two Western European seats, there were three candidates: Ireland, Italy, and Norway.

Sudan country in Northeast Africa

Sudan or the Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea to the east, Ethiopia to the southeast, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, and Libya to the northwest. It houses 37 million people (2017) and occupies a total area of 1,861,484 square kilometres, making it the third-largest country in Africa. Sudan's predominant religion is Islam, and its official languages are Arabic and English. The capital is Khartoum, located at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile. Since 2011, Sudan is the scene of ongoing military conflict in its regions South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

Italy republic in Southern Europe

Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates San Marino and Vatican City. Italy covers an area of 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi) and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. With around 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth-most populous EU member state and the most populous country in Southern Europe.

Results

Voting proceeded by secret ballot. For each geographic group, each member state could vote for as many candidates as were to be elected. There were 173 ballots in each of the three elections. Candidates were required to gather a 2/3 support of all nations voting; that is, the exact number for the 2/3 is determined without the abstentions and invalid ballots.

African and Asian States (two to be elected)

1st round

This round brought the election of Singapore, but was inconclusive in regards of the African seat, as neither Mauritius nor Sudan succeeded in securing the 2/3 support of the General Assembly, 115 votes in this round.

2nd round

This round of voting was inconclusive, though Mauritius did improve its lead on Sudan; neither state could acquire the requisite 112 votes.

3rd round

This round saw Mauritius nearly achieve the required 2/3 majority of 112 votes, but was ultimately inconclusive.

4th round

This round brought the final victory of Mauritius, winning 113 votes, thus securing the 2/3 majority of 112 votes.

Latin American and Caribbean States (one to be elected)

Western European and Other States (two to be elected)

1st round

In this round, Ireland was elected to the Security Council, and the second seat of the Western European and Others Group was yet to be decided upon, as neither Italy nor Norway had succeeded to secure a 2/3 majority, or 116 votes.

2nd round

This round of voting was inconclusive, as neither nation could secure the requisite 114 votes.

3rd round

This round saw Norway increase its lead on Italy, but ultimately failing to secure the requisite 115 votes needed for election.

4th round

This round saw Norway collecting the exact number of votes that was required for election: 115.

End Result

The first round of voting saw the election of Colombia, Ireland, and Singapore. After two inconclusive rounds, the two remaining seats were finally in the fourth round given to Mauritius and Norway, who overcame Italy and Sudan in the respective votes.

See also

European Union and the United Nations

The European Union (EU) has had permanent observer status at the United Nations (UN) since 1974, and has had enhanced participation rights since 2011. The EU itself does not have voting rights but it is represented alongside its 28 members, two of which are permanent members of the Security Council.

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References

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