UN Security Council welcomes Mozambique as a new member

Mozambique, Ecuador, Japan, Malta, and Switzerland got a formal welcome into the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, taking the two-year seats they won unopposed in June.

In a tradition that Kazakhstan started in 2018, the five countries' ambassadors installed their national flags on Tuesday alongside those of other members outside the council chambers.

Mozambican Ambassador Pedro Comissário Afonso of Mozambique called it "an historic date" as his country joined the U.N.'s most powerful body.

China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States are permanent, veto-wielding members of the group. Its 10 other members are elected by the 193-nation General Assembly for staggered, two-year terms. They're allocated by global regions.

To many countries, winning a council seat means they have a bigger voice in the major international peace and security issues of the day.

The council deploys peacekeeping missions, can approve sanctions and speaks out - sometimes - on conflicts and flashpoints, while also surveying such thematic issues as terrorism and arms control. And whilst many matters are almost always on the agenda, members also can raise emerging concerns or topics of particular interest to them.