Nigeria on Tuesday assumed the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council for April.
Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Professor Joy Ogwu, took over from Luxembourg’s representative, Mr Sylvie Lucas.
Professor Ogwu listed her priority for April to include three open debates to address the Middle East, which encompasses Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine, women, peace and security and on the initiative of Nigeria, maintenance of international peace and security.
She also said other issues that could be taken up included the Central African Republic and Ukraine.
The Nigerian representative said that she had commenced consultations with other members of the Security Council and would present her programmes to the member states for approval.
“Considering the turmoil in the world, it is going to be a tough agenda but we will approach it with the deepest sense of duty and I am sure we will have the support of our colleagues,” Professor Ogwu said
Under the UN Charter, the 15-member Security Council is responsibility of maintaining international peace and security.
The council is composed of five permanent members – China, United States, Britain, France, and Russia and 10 non-permanent members.
The presidency of the Council rotates among the members on a monthly basis according to the English-language alphabetical order of the countries’ names.
Nigeria was elected on October 17, 2013 by the UN General Assembly as a non-permanent member to the UN Security Council for 2014-2015.