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Group of African States

Abbreviation	GAFS
Formation	1964; 60 years ago (1964)
Type	Regional group
Legal status	Active
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The Group of African States, or African Group, is one of the five United Nations regional groups and is composed of 54 Member States from the African continent. The African Group is the largest regional group, and compose 28% of all United Nations members.

The Group, as with all the regional groups, is a non-binding dialogue group where subjects concerning regional and international matters are discussed. Additionally, the Group works to help allocates seats on United Nations bodies by nominating candidates from the region.

Role

The Group, as with all the regional groups, plays a major role in promoting the region's interests. It provides a forum for Member States to exchange opinions on international issues, carry out follow-up on the topics that are being discussed in international organisations, build common positions on complex issues and prepare statements reflecting the joint position of the Group.

However, most importantly, the Group allows for the discussion and coordination of support for candidates for different United Nations organisations from the region.

Member States

The following are the Member States of the African Group:

•  Algeria
•  Angola
•  Benin
•  Botswana
•  Burkina Faso
•  Burundi
•  Cape Verde
•  Cameroon
•  Central African Republic
•  Chad
•  Comoros
•  Congo
•  Côte d'Ivoire
•  DR Congo
•  Djibouti
•  Egypt
•  Equatorial Guinea
•  Eritrea
•  Eswatini
•  Ethiopia
•  Gabon
•  Gambia
•  Ghana
•  Guinea
•  Guinea-Bissau
•  Kenya
•  Lesotho
•  Liberia
•  Libya
•  Madagascar
•  Malawi
•  Mali
•  Mauritania
•  Mauritius
•  Morocco
•  Mozambique
•  Namibia
•  Niger
•  Nigeria
•  Rwanda
•  São Tomé and Príncipe
•  Senegal
•  Seychelles
•  Sierra Leone
•  Somalia
•  South Africa
•  South Sudan
•  Sudan
•  Tanzania
•  Togo
•  Tunisia
•  Uganda
•  Zambia
•  Zimbabwe

Representation

Security Council

The African Group currently holds three seats on the Security Council, all non-permanent. The current members of the Security Council from the Group are:

Country	Term
Algeria	1 January 2024 — 31 December 2025
Sierra Leone
Mozambique	1 January 2023 — 31 December 2024

Economic and Social Council

The African Group currently holds 14 seats on the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The current members of the Economic and Social Council from the Group are:

Country	Term
Kenya	1 January 2024 – 31 December 2026
Mauritania
Niger
Senegal
Zambia
Botswana	1 January 2023 — 31 December 2025
Cabo Verde
Cameroon
Equatorial Guinea
Cote d'Ivoire	1 January 2022 — 31 December 2024
Eswatini
Mauritius
Tunisia
Tanzania

Human Rights Council

The African Group currently holds 13 seats on the United Nations Human Rights Council. The current members of the Human Rights Council from the Group are:

Country	Term
Burundi	1 January 2024 — 31 December 2026
Cote d'Ivoire
Ghana
Malawi
Algeria	1 January 2023 — 31 December 2025
Morocco
South Africa
Sudan
Benin	1 January 2022 — 31 December 2024
Cameroon
Eritrea
Gambia
Somalia

Presidency of the General Assembly

Every five years in the years ending in 4 and 9, the African Group is eligible to elect a president to the General Assembly.

The following is a list of presidents from the Group since its official creation in 1963:

Year Elected	Session	Name of President	Country	Note
1964	19th	Alex Quaison-Sackey	Ghana
1969	24th	Angie E. Brooks	Liberia
1974	29th	Abdelaziz Bouteflika	Algeria
1979	34th	Salim A. Salim	Tanzania	Also chaired the 6th and 7th emergency special, and 11th special sessions of the General Assembly
1984	39th	Paul J. F. Lusaka	Zambia
1989	44th	Joseph Nanven Garba	Nigeria	Also chaired 16th, 17th and 18th special sessions of the General Assembly
1994	49th	Amara Essy	Côte d'Ivoire
1999	54th	Theo-Ben Gurirab	Namibia	Also chaired the 22nd, 23rd and 24th special sessions of the General Assembly
2004	59th	Jean Ping	Gabon
2009	64th	Ali Abdussalam Treki	Libya	Also chaired the 29th special session of the General Assembly
2014	69th	Sam Kahamba Kutesa	Uganda
2019	74th	Tijjani Muhammad-Bande	Nigeria
2024	79th	Philémon Yang	Cameroon
Future
2029	84th	TBA	TBA
2034	89th	TBA	TBA

References

1. ^ Agam, Hasmy; Sam Daws; Terence O'Brien; Ramesh Takur (26 March 1999). What is Equitable Geographic Representation in the Twenty-First Century (PDF) (Report). United Nations University. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
2. Volger, Helmut, ed. (2010). "Archived copy" (PDF). A Concise Encyclopedia of the United Nations (2nd ed.). Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-18004-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
3. "Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. n.d. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
4. "Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries in the United Nations (GRULAC)". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. n.d. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
5. "Regional groups of Member States". United Nations Department for General Assembly and Conference management. United Nations. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
6. "United Nations Handbook 2018–19" (PDF). United Nations Handbook:: An Annual Guide for Those Working within the United Nations (56 ed.). Wellington: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand: 15–17. 2018. ISSN 0110-1951.
7. "Current Members". United Nations Security Council. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
8. "General Assembly Elects Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Tunisia, Viet Nam as Non-Permanent Members of Security Council for 2020-2021". United Nations Meetings Coverage & Press Releases. United Nations. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
9. "UN elects five new members to serve on the Security Council". UN News. 2021-06-11. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
10. "Members". United Nations Economic and Social Council. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
11. "General Assembly Elects 19 Economic and Social Council Members to Terms Beginning 1 January 2020, Adopts Resolution Commemorating Signing of United Nations Charter". United Nations Meetings Coverage & Press Releases. United Nations. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
12. "Current Membership of the Human Rights Council, 1 January - 31 December 2019 by regional groups". United Nations Human Rights Council. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
13. "General Assembly Elects 14 Member States to Human Rights Council, Appoints New Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services". United Nations Meetings Coverage & Press Releases. United Nations. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
14. Wanza, Serah N. (27 November 2017). "What Are The Five Regional Groups of the United Nations?". Worldatlas. Worldatlas. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
15. "Past Presidents". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. Retrieved 26 August 2024.

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