Africa remains junior partner of UN, says Ethiopian PM during AU Summit

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - FEBRUARY 05: The 35th African Union (EU) Summit which kicked off on Feb. 2, continued in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia on Saturday (Feb. 5). African leaders attended their first in-person summit since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak. The Union said in a statement that “Addressing the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the increasing threats of insecurity from conflicts and terrorism, the unconstitutional changes of governments in African states and the socio-economic development on the continent, dominated the discussions of the Executive Council session of the African Union.” This year’s theme is “Building Resilience in Nutrition on the African Continent” but a stack of files is awaiting the 55 member-states leaders. Senegal’s President Macky Sall was elected as the African Union’s new chairperson on Saturday. Sall, who has led Senegal since 2012, succeeds Felix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for a one-year term. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in his opening remarks called for cooperation among African nations in demanding two permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council. “Today, more than seven decades after the creation of the United Nations, Africa remains a junior partner, without a meaningful input or role within the system of international governance,” Abiy Ahmed said.(Footage by Mohammed Abdu Abdulbaqi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)