New members set to debut at UN Security Council


Five new members of the UN Security Council are expected to appear in the council chamber on Monday for the first time in 2015.

Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela are the new non-permanent members and will each serve a two-year term.

The Security Council is made up of ten non-permanent and five permanent members.

Those five nations, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States each have a power of veto to prevent a resolution from being adopted.

The Council has the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security.

Resolutions adopted in the pursuit of peace and security are legally binding and all Member States of the UN are expected to carry out their implementation.

The South American nation of Chile holds the Presidency for the month of January.

SOURCE: Daniel Dickinson, United Nations