Gabon holds the presidency of the UN Security Council for the entire month of October 2022. It succeeds France, which assumed this rotating function during the month of September.

Michael Moussa Adamou, Gabon’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, is currently in New York to assume this role.

The Security Council is an essential body. It bears the primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security. Countries that are permanent or non-permanent members of the Council have a capacity to influence it, and therefore have a particular political weight.

Rotating function of member countries

The Presidency of the Council is held by each member in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the Member States’ names.

The Council has 15 members, each with one vote. Under the Charter, all Member States are required to implement the decisions of the Council.

The Security Council, an instrument of peace

The Security Council has primary competence to determine the existence of a threat to the peace or an act of aggression. It invites the parties to a dispute to settle the dispute by peaceful means and recommends the methods of adjustment and the terms of settlement that it considers appropriate.

In some cases, it can impose sanctions or even authorise the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security.