On Tuesday night, Switzerland finally took its long-awaited seat at the United Nations Security Council after 20 years of UN membership. The Swiss flag was hoisted over the entrance to the United Nations’ headquarters in New York, alongside the flags of Ecuador, Malta, Mozambique and Japan who will join Switzerland in their temporary Security Council role.
Switzerland’s ambassador to the United Nations, Pascale Baeriswyl installed the Swiss flag at the ceremony to welcome the new countries to the Security Council. “We need the support of young people and women to ensure lasting peace,” the ambassador stated at the ceremony. “We will work in a spirit of shared responsibility, with deep humility,” Baeriswyl added.
Switzerland has committed to using its time in the Security Council to voice issues faced by young people and women and that the UN should also focus on tackling issues of hunger, ignorance, poverty and superstition. Switzerland praised its promotion to the Security Council as an opportunity to make a “contribution to peace and security in the world, especially in the current tense global political context”, according to the country’s foreign ministry.
Switzerland will not only sit alongside new members Ecuador, Malta, Mozambique and Japan, but will also cosy up to representatives from the Security Council’s permanent member states: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Aside from these countries, Switzerland will also sit next to non-permanent members from the 2022 to 2024 rotation - Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates.
Switzerland will take over the presidency of the UN Security Council twice during its membership - in May 2023 and October 2024. The Security Council is responsible for maintaining international peace and security as well as considering potential UN candidates and making changes to the treaties that underpin the organisation, such as the UN Charter.
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