Simon Coveney: Ireland’s role on Security Council is about real people, not high politics

A recent visit to Africa served as a valuable reminder of why a small country like ours is on the UN Security Council

Minister Simon Coveney meets with Michelle Adika Aluoch and Rehema Kipchumba Amor, winners of this year’s Young Scientists Kenya competition, which is based on Ireland’s Young Scientists model.

Last week, I travelled to Kenya and Somalia to discuss some of the most important issues on the agenda of the UN Security Council, the top table for international affairs where Ireland currently holds a seat.

After a hard-fought campaign last year, we were elected to the Security Council for 2021 and 2022.

Kenya, a country of 52m people and a long-time friend of Ireland, holds one of the African seats during that term. My visit was an important opportunity to renew our political, development, and economic partnerships.

Kenya, as well as being a partner on the council, has particular insights into the dynamics of the Horn of Africa region. This strategic gateway also includes Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan, as well as Eritrea and Djibouti. One third of Ireland’s work each day on the Security Council concerns this region.

I held a valuable two-hour meeting with Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, planning how we can work together most effectively to progress some of the most difficult peace and security issues facing the region and the continent more broadly.

I have said it before, and I repeat it here, Ireland is extremely worried about the situation in Ethiopia, with ongoing fighting between state forces and regional forces in Tigray. 

I fear if the international community does not act in the days and weeks ahead, we could see the situation seriously deteriorate in this beautiful country of 112m people.

I also travelled on an EU flight to Mogadishu to meet the prime minister of Somalia, Mohamed Hussein Roble, on the many challenges which he and his government colleagues are trying to address in the run-up to elections.

Respected voice

Ireland is a respected and trusted voice in the Horn of Africa through the decades of work of Irish Aid, missionaries, NGOs, and our diplomats.

This was repeated to me everywhere I went as I met with ambassadors of the three African members of the Security Council, heads of UN organisations, the
African Union, regional analysts, civil society, and other important stakeholders
including the Kenyan and Somali foreign ministers.

Ireland also co-chairs the Security Council committee on climate and security issues.

In my discussions in Somalia, a country of 15m people, I heard how climate change is severely impacting on food production and people’s livelihoods, in turn destabilising the hard-won but fragile stability of a war-weary country.

I heard very strongly that more needed to be done to encourage and facilitate greater involvement of women in politics, peace negotiations, and peace processes, as well as building post-conflict society and in promoting reconciliation.

Role of women

This echoed the important role of women in achieving and delivering the Good Friday Agreement.

My discussions, including with Somali women’s groups, are informing how Ireland will discharge our role as co-chair of the Security Council’s women, peace, and security file.

The deep and longstanding links between Ireland and countries in the Horn of Africa are everywhere to see. Mr Kenyatta recalled his education by Irish Spiritans.

The emerging Somali coastguard is being trained, mentored, and supported by an EU civilian crisis management mission led by an Irishman, Chris Reynolds, sharing his experience of leading the Irish Coast Guard.

There is more we can do to deepen those relationships, including through greater trade and business links.

To encourage this, I, along with Kenya’s treasury minister, signed a double taxation agreement during my visit. I met with business people and launched a guide to doing business in Kenya.

In what was a moving meeting with representatives of the Irish community in Kenya, I presented a plaque to mark the service of the late Joe O’Brien, who served as Ireland’s honorary consul in Kenya for 24 years.

I heard from missionaries and from NGO representatives such as Maria Kidney of Brighter Communities (who proudly flies Cork’s flag in rural western Kenya) how they are helping communities respond to Covid and how it has impacted on their lives.

Vaccine sharing

As difficult as Covid makes things — and I was reminded of the importance of vaccine-sharing with Africa if we are all to be safe — there were also grounds for great optimism.

Mr Kenyatta is the patron of Young Scientists Kenya, based on Ireland’s Young Scientists model, encouraging the next generation of Kenyans to study the sciences. The programme is a huge success, and I met with this year’s winners, two young women, Michelle and Rehema, who want to study law and engineering and help build their Kenya of the future.

In discussing Young Scientists with the president, I was reminded of why a small country like Ireland is on the Security Council.

It’s about real people, not high politics. Ireland is trying our best and doing our bit to help create stability and peace so that others, like Michelle and Rehema, can achieve their potential too.