Angola was yesterday elected to replace Rwanda as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council after garnering the required two-thirds of votes at the UN General Assembly in New York. Angola was elected alongside Malaysia, New Zealand and Venezuela, while Turkey and Spain will face off in a second vote for one final seat. Rwanda’s two-year term on the Council ends December. Following the election of the Southern African nation to the Security Council, Rwanda’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo, wrote on her Twitter feed: “Congratulations to Angola for being elected to non-permanent seat on UNSC. Angola takes over from Rwanda, which ends its term this year.” Five of the 15 members of the Security Council are permanent members. During its term, Rwanda pushed for more effective mechanisms to prevent and contain conflicts, and consolidate peace in Africa and globally. It held the one-month Security Council presidency twice. The country joined the 193-state UN organisation in 1962 and, for the first time became a member of the Security Council between 1994 and 1995, the period in which then government presided over the slaughter of more than a million people during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
