History made as UN Security Council gets its smallest ever member

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St. Vincent and the Grenadines has made history by becoming the smallest nation ever to be elected into the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member.

The southern Caribbean nation was elected alongside Estonia, Niger, Tunisia and Viet Nam.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines has a population of around 110,000 people, and covers a 389 km2 territory.

“An historic occasion,” proclaimed Prime Minister Ralph Everard Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, after his country won its first-ever seat.

“We are the smallest country ever to be elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council.”

Gonsalves added that the country is committed to the principle of sustainable development and, as a Small Island Developing State in danger of inundation by rising seas, is very concerned about the consequences of adverse climate change and intends to work very closely with the other members of the Security Council. The UN, he added, has limitations, but it also has “profound strengths.”

The new five non-permanent members of the UN Security Council will take up their seats in January 2020, replacing Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, Peru and Poland.