Ethiopia chairs UNSC emergency meeting on North Korea Nuclear crises

September 4, 2017 (ADDIS ABABA) – Ethiopia, on Monday chaired an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss North Korea’s sixth nuclear test on Sunday.

The Horn Africa’s nation started last Saturday its presidency of the 15 member body for September 2017.

The U.S. and its other allied countries on Sunday called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council in the wake of North Korea’s claims that it successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb.

The UNSC emergency meeting announcement came after North Korea on Sunday successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb, possibly triggering an artificial earthquake, which the U.S. Geological Survey reported as a 6.3 earthquake in the communist nation.

Following the missile test, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned North Korea’s test, calling it “profoundly destabilizing for regional security.”

The emergency session which deliberated today in New York on what international actions should be taken against North Korea’s in response to its latest nuclear test, which is the largest so far.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the meeting that North Korea was “begging for war”. The time has come to exhaust all diplomatic means before it is too late,” further said Haley, urging the UN for strongest possible measures.

According to Ethiopian ministry of foreign affairs, during its presidency of the Council, Ethiopia will give priority towards strengthening the partnership between the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) in the area of peace and security, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It will also lead the UNSC delegation, which will participate at the 11th Annual Joint Consultative Meeting with the AUPSC, scheduled to take place on 7 and 8 September 2017 at the AU Headquarters, in Addis Ababa.

As President of the Security Council, Ethiopia will co-chair this meeting together with the current chairperson of the AUPSC.

It will also chair the High-Level Open Debate on the reform of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations scheduled to be held on 20 September 2017.

The debate will be chaired by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia and is expected to be attended by Heads of State and Government as well as other high-level officials of members of the Security Council and the wider membership of the United Nations.

The open debate will focus on recommendations from the previous Secretary-General and on the reform process initiated by the current Secretary-General.

Ethiopia is the largest African contributor to UN peacekeeping forces and the second largest contributor in the world with some 12,968 peacekeepers dispatched all over the world.

(ST)