UN Security Council: Algeria Takes Over the Presidency

Algeria assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council for January, starting Wednesday.

Algeria intends to use this opportunity to continue to make the voices of Arab and African countries heard and advocate for just causes.

Algeria will assume the presidency for a month a year after being elected a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. During this period, special priority will be given to files related to the situation in the Middle East, particularly in occupied Palestine, and the fight against terrorism in Africa.

In this context, Algeria intends to organize, at the ministerial level, the Council’s quarterly open debate on “the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue”, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, is expected to participate in this event.

After nearly 15 months since the beginning of the Zionist aggression on the Gaza Strip, the UN Security Council has proven its inability to guarantee even the minimum level of protection for Palestinian civilians.

Despite the efforts of its elected members, especially Algeria, to bring it back to the path of dialogue and the need to assume its responsibility towards the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the main body of the United Nations charged with maintaining international peace and security remained divided.

Under the directives of the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Algeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Amar Bendjama, intensified his efforts to issue a resolution calling for an “immediate” and “permanent” ceasefire in Gaza. These efforts were successful in March 2024 after the UN Security Council failed to adopt several other draft resolutions due to the American veto.

Moreover, Algeria succeeded in re-raising the issue of granting the State of Palestine full membership in the United Nations within the framework of the quest to implement the two-state solution enshrined by international legitimacy and establish a just and lasting peace in the Middle East region.

The Security Council will also hold a meeting this January, under Algeria’s presidency, on the political process and the humanitarian situation in Syria, in addition to another meeting on Yemen.

The UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, and a representative of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) are expected to brief during these meetings.

Algeria also intends, during its presidency of the UN Security Council, to organize a high-level meeting on counter-terrorism in Africa.

Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, the National Community Abroad and African Affairs, Ahmed Attaf, explained during a press conference on Monday, that this meeting will be devoted to “discussing the expansion of terrorist activities in Africa and the threats they pose to the security and stability of African countries.