As a state issue supported by the Foreign Ministry team and foreign ministers of past administrations, it is how the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chancellor of the Republic, Erika Mouynes, considers that the country’s candidacy should be addressed to opt for a position in the Council Security of the United Nations Organization.
This was explained by Mouynes during a meeting with eleven of the Foreign Ministers who preceded her in office, stressing that Panama must manage this and other international commitments such as its participation in multilateral forums with State policy as well as the candidacy for the Council of Security involving various administrations to exercise institutionality.
Mouynes declared that the opportunity to participate in the United Nations Security Council in the 2025-2026 period is an opportunity that could not be repeated for at least 34 years, considering the agreed system of candidacies and the list of countries with already expressed interest. .
Within the discussed roadmap, the Panamanian candidacy process begins with aggressive lobbying to generate the necessary support for the vote, which will take place in June 2024.
Minister Mouynes stressed the need to rely on the professional team of the Foreign Ministry, preparing and giving immediate follow-up to the issues discussed in the Security Council.
“The technical capabilities of a robust institutional team are key to having a high-level participation in a platform as important as the Security Council,” Minister Mouynes specified.
If Panama’s candidacy is successful, as of July 2024 it must actively participate in all meetings of the Security Council, including the preparatory sessions. In this sense, Foreign Minister Mouynes stressed to the former foreign ministers present, the need to manage the candidacy “as a commitment of the country” to achieve a seat in the most important multilateral debate space for the maintenance of international peace and security.
The process, which began in March 2012 with the formal presentation of the candidacy and will culminate with the vote in the General Assembly in the first week of June 2024, covers four administrations, planning that endorses the institutionalization of Panamanian diplomacy and the commitment of the country with the United Nations system, of which Panama was the forerunner and founding member.
Non-permanent member of the Security Council on five other occasions (1958-1959, 1972-1973, 1976-1977, 1981-1982 and 2007-2008), Panama has been the only regional seat of this forum outside the United Nations compound, in New York, during the period of 1972-1973, when he took advantage of his participation to internationalize the sovereignist cause, an issue that he successfully incorporated into the multilateral debate.
“Panama must be technically prepared to maximize participation in the United Nations Security Council. This allows us to consolidate our international image as a relevant player in the most important multilateral system”, declared the Chancellor regarding the plan being executed.
The meeting with the former foreign ministers, held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “has been an opportunity to evaluate the most technical aspects of the candidacy and what it represents for the country, demonstrating that we are a mature and capable diplomacy, and consolidating Panama as a valid interlocutor and with a tradition of dialogue and in favor of peace that the world recognizes”, added Minister Mouynes.
