Burkina Faso to assume rotating UN Security Council presidency for December

Burkina Faso is scheduled to assume the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday for the month of December.

Michel Kafando, Burkian Faso's permanent representative to the United Nations, will take over the rotating Council presidency from the Austrian UN ambassador, Thomas Mayr-Harting, who holds the rotating presidency in November.

In the outgoing November, the Security Council, among others, discussed the protection of civilians in armed conflict and unanimously adopted a resolution to reiterate the 15-nation Council's condemnation of all acts of piracy and armed robbery in the waters off the Somali coast.

The presidency of the Security Council rotates among the 15 members in alphabetical order.

Under the UN Charter, the Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The Council has 15 members: five permanent members -- China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States -- and 10 non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms.

At present, the 10 non-permanent Council members are Austria, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, Japan, Libya, Mexico, Turkey, Uganda and Vietnam.

Source: Xinhua