Rwanda gets AU backing to take over at UNSC as non-permanent member

(eTN) – Rwanda’s contributions to UN peace-keeping missions in Darfur and the long-term deployment of police contingents in Haiti have earned Rwanda the respect of fellow AU member countries. Rwanda was given provisional clearance to step into a two-year term, from January 2013 onwards, of the UN Security Council. Permanent members are elected by the General Assembly following the support of their respective regional groups like the AU.

Since the 1994 genocide, Rwanda has made a phoenix-like recovery, and has restored an independent judiciary and made huge strides towards reconciliation and reconstruction benefiting erstwhile ethnic foes. The prevailing peace and economic stability has catapulted tourism to the top of the performance list, bringing hundreds of thousands of visitors to the “Land of a Thousand Hills.” Visitors may witness through their own experience how the country has developed from a largely agriculture-based society to become a hub of new technologies and communications. Having become an Anglophone country has also spurred added developments and global integration, and the country is often hailed as the “Switzerland of Africa,” if such a stereotype can even begin to explain how Rwanda now compares with other countries on the continent.

Visitors flying to Kigali with national carrier RwandAir – itself a distinct force for development now – read on arrival that they have entered a corruption-free zone. Security is evident, as is all else, when the travelers are driven into Kigali city – modern, well maintained, and clean, almost belying the fact that this country would truly be located in the heart of Africa.

All these accolades have now resulted in the country being selected by fellow African nations to step up when South Africa’s current term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council comes to an end in 10 months’ time. Rwanda now has time to prepare the agenda in close cooperation with the African Union – what Africa stands for and expects from the rest of the world, come January 2013.