TUNIS: According to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday, Japan will utilise its position on the UN Security Council to lobby for an African seat on the top international body.At the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Tunis, Kishida stated, “Japan reiterates its intention to address the historical wrong against Africa of not being represented by a permanent membership on the Security Council.”
According to him, in order for the UN to function well for peace and stability, the Security Council needs to be strengthened urgently. The UN, he said, is in “a moment of truth.” Japan was one of the five nations chosen in June to occupy one of the two non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council for the years 2023 and 2024.
After testing positive for Covid-19 a few days earlier, Kishida spoke via live video from Tokyo and reaffirmed his Saturday announcement to invest $30 billion in Africa over the following three years.Additionally, he declared that Japan would send a special envoy to the Horn of Africa, where a protracted drought has forced the UN weather agency to issue a warning this week about a “historic humanitarian calamity.”
