For the fourth time in its history, Algeria was elected as a member of the UN Security Council

Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone and South Korea were elected, by an overwhelming majority, to take up seats in the UN Security Council as non-permanent members, while Slovenia won the fifth vacant seat after it outperformed by a wide margin over Belarus.

The UN Security Council includes 15 countries, including five permanent members with veto power (Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States) and 10 countries that hold seats for two years. Each year, the countries that occupy five of these seats are elected.

The 10 seats reserved for non-permanent members are reserved for all regions to be equally represented.

In a secret ballot in the United Nations General Assembly, Slovenia, which competed with Belarus for the seat reserved for Eastern Europe, won with a vote of 153-38.

“Today’s General Assembly vote reveals why competition in UN elections is essential,” said Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch.

He continued, “Undoubtedly, the member states of the United Nations have decided that Belarus’ gross violations of human rights at home and its obscuration of facts related to the Russian atrocities committed in Ukraine do not qualify it to take a seat on the Security Council, which is a necessary body for the preservation of human rights.”

The Presidency of the Algerian Republic said in a statement, “Algeria will be keen to make the voice of Arab and African countries heard, and to defend common strategic interests in various issues that fall within the competence of the Security Council.”

Algeria and Sierra Leone will represent Africa, while South Korea won the seat for the Asia and Pacific region, while Guyana won the seat reserved for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The five countries will replace Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2024.