Singapore and the United Nations

Republic of Singapore

United Nations membership
Membership| Full member
Since| September 21, 1965 (1965-09-21)
UNSC seat| Non-permanent
Permanent Representative| Burhanudeen Gafoor[1][2]

The Republic of Singapore officially became the 117th member of the United Nations (UN) after its independence on August 9, 1965.[3] From 2001 to 2002, Singapore held a rotational seat on the United Nations Security Council and has participated in UN peacekeeping/observer missions in Kuwait, Angola, Kenya, Cambodia and Timor Leste.[4]

## History

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Before independence, Singapore had merged with the Federation of Malaya with North Borneo and Sarawak to form Malaysia on August 31, 1963 and at that time, the Federation of Malaya was already a member of the UN.[5] Due to distrust and ideological differences between leaders of the State of Singapore and the federal government of Malaysia, Singapore became an independent state about 2 years after the union, on August 9, 1965.[3]

Requirements for joining the United Nations under the UN Charter of the time required sponsorship by minimum of 2 members on the United Nations Security Council, support from the members on the council and about 67% of the votes during the United Nations General Assembly to be successfully admitted into the organisation. After independence, Singapore applied to join the UN on September 2, 1965 with the sponsorship of Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Ivory Coast and Jordan. On September 20, 1965, Singapore's admission to the UN was put into vote in the security council and the result of the vote was unanimous.[6][7] Singapore was then officially registered as a member of the UN on September 21, 1965, with Abu Bakar bin Pawanchee serving as the first permanent representative to the UN.[8][3]

In 1969, the United Nations Association of Singapore was set up as part of the World Federation of United Nations Associations,[9] which is part of 'The Third United Nations'.[10]

Since then, Singapore has been actively participating in UN peacekeeping operations. In 1997, the country became only the seventh country to sign the Memorandum of Understanding on UN Standby Arrangements.[11]

## Activities

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### Security Council

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During the 2000 United Nations Security Council election, Singapore was elected as one of the five non-permanent members of the UN Security Council and served a two-year term from 2001 to 2002.[12][13] In January 2001 and May 2002, Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani, the permanent representative of Singapore then, served as the President of the United Nations Security Council together with Ambassador S. Jayakumar. During Singapore's time on the security council, it managed to lobbied for a time extension for the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor until East Timor's independence, despite objection from a permanent member on the council.[14][15]

### Peacekeeping and observer missions

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Since 1989, Singapore has taken part in 17 peacekeeping and observer missions with personnel from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and Singapore Police Force (SPF).[16][17] Singapore's first peacekeeping mission was to oversee Namibia’s transition to independence, was in response to an urgent call for help from then UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar on March 29, 1989. A total of 30 personnel from the SPF was sent on the mission and the country also contributed S$172,652 to the operations of the United Nations Transition Assistance Group.[18]

Singapore has taken part in the following peacekeeping and observer missions led by the UN.

Start Year | End Year | Country | Conflict | Mission | No. of personnel

|
|
|
|
|

1989 | 2000 |  Namibia | Namibia’s Transition to Independence | UNTAG | 30 (Singapore Police Force)[18]
1991 | 2003 |  Kuwait | Gulf War[19] | UNIKOM | 88 (Singapore Armed Forces) [20]
1993 | 1993 |  Cambodia | Cambodian–Vietnamese War | UNTAC | 65 (Singapore Armed Forces) [21]
1994 | 1994 |  South Africa | Internal resistance to apartheid | UNOMSA | —
1997 | 1998 |  Afghanistan | Afghanistan conflict | UNSMA | 1 military advisor (Singapore Armed Forces)[22]
1999 | 2000 |  Timor-Leste | Indonesian occupation of East Timor | INTERFET | None[23]
2000 | 2002 | UNTAET | 1,000 (Singapore Armed Forces & Singapore Police Force)[24]
2002 | 2005 | UNMISET
2000 | 2003 |  Ethiopia | Eritrean–Ethiopian War | UNMEE | 1 military advisor (Singapore Armed Forces)[25]
Eritrea

### Notification of Casualties application

[edit]

In December 2015, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Singapore and the United Nations to develop an information management tool to aid in peacekeeping operations. The main functionality of the software is to allow the reporting of casualty for personnel serving in peacekeeping operations, which will be then accessed by authorized users in the UN Headquarters in New York, and all Peacekeeping and Special Political Missions.[26] The tool was developed by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UN DPKO) and the UN Department of Field Support (UN DFS) and was launched in May 2017.[27] The launch of the software was officiated by Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations in a ceremony in New York.[28]

## Representation

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Singapore maintains 3 permanent missions to the UN and 1 permanent delegate to UNESCO. The 3 permanent missions to the UN are located in New York, which is headed by Ambassador Burhan Gafoor,[2] Geneva, which is headed by Ambassador Tan Hung Seng[29] and lastly at Vienna, which is headed by Ambassador Umej Singh Bhatia.[30] The permanent mission in Vienna, also serves as the country's representative to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency.[30] The non-resident permanent delegate to UNESCO is represented by Ambassador Rosa Huey Daniel.[31]

## See also

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* Singapore portal
* Politics portal

* Foreign relations of Singapore

## References

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1. ^ "New Permanent Representative of Singapore Presents Credentials". UN. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
2. ^ a b "Permanent Mission of the Republic of Singapore to the United Nations in New York". Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
3. ^ a b c The Straits Times (September 23, 1965). "Singapore becomes member of the UN". NewspaperSG. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
4. ^ "Singapore (05/09)". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
5. ^ Tan, Alvin (2020). Singapore, a very short history : from Temasek to tomorrow. Singapore: Talisman Publishing Pte Ltd. pp. 136–137\. ISBN 978-9811433481.
6. ^ "Practices Relative to Recommendations to the General Assembly Regarding the Admission of New Members" (PDF). United Nations. n.d. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
7. ^ "Berita Singapura: Singapore Joins The United Nations". National Archives of Singapore. 1965. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
8. ^ Lim Siew Yea. "Communalism and Communism at Singaporean Independence". postcolonialweb.org. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
9. ^ "Our History - United Nations Association of Singapore". United Nations Association of Singapore. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
10. ^ Thomas G. Weiss, Tatiana Carayannis and Richard Jolly (January–March 2009). "The "Third" United Nations, 2009". Global Governance. 15 (1): 123–149\. JSTOR 27800742.
11. ^ "International Peacekeeping". Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
12. ^ "Singapore - United Nations Security Council". United Nations. n.d. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
13. ^ "Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Press Statement, 30 Dec 2001: Singapore Begins Membership Of The United Nations Security Council". National Archives of Singapore. 2001. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
14. ^ "Establishing Our Place in the World". Public Service Division, Singapore. n.d. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
15. ^ "Seamless Switch From UN Administration to Post-Independence Government in East Timor Vital to Success, Security Council Told". United Nations. 2002. Retrieved July 28, 2020. "Kishore Mahbubani (Singapore), referring to the situation in Afghanistan where the United Nations faced enormous challenges, hoped that the success of East Timor would have a ripple effect in the region. East Timor was a good example of what the United Nations could achieve, he said, but it was clear the Organization still had unfinished business there."
16. ^ "Our UNwavering Commitment in Peacekeeping". Singapore Police Force. June 28, 2018. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
17. ^ "UN". Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
18. ^ a b "21 man police team to join Namibia peace force". The Straits Times. NewspaperSG. April 7, 1989. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
19. ^ "Ministry of Foregin Affairs - Singapore's Participation in UNIKOM" (PDF). National Archives of Singapore. April 23, 1991. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
20. ^ "Get National Servicemen to Volunteer for Overseas Missions" (PDF). Originally by Today, Archived by Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. November 25, 2014. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
21. ^ "Speech by Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, at the Medal Presentation Ceremony for 5th SAF UNIKOM Team Held at the Joint Services Officers' Mess in Gombak Drive" (PDF). Originally by MINDEF, Archived by National Archives of Singapore. January 7, 1997. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
22. ^ "Singapore Signs Memorandum Of Understanding With The United Nations On Singapore's Contributions To The United Nations Standby Arrangements". National Archives of Singapore. May 20, 1997. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
23. ^ "Factsheet – SAF Participation in Peacekeeping Operations in Timor-Leste" (PDF). National Archives of Singapore. 2003. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
24. ^ "Mission Ready - SAF Peacekeppers in Timor Leste" (PDF). MINDEF Singapore. May 9, 2003. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
25. ^ "SAF Personnel Leave for UN Missions" (PDF). National Archives of Singapore. May 18, 2002. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
26. ^ "United Nations Notification of Casualties Software Application". MINDEF Singapore. May 24, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
27. ^ "Singapore Collaborates with United Nations to Develop Notification of Casualties Software Application". ns.sg. May 29, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
28. ^ "New secure Internet app aids UN peacekeeping maintain and share statistics". United Nations Peacekeeping. May 23, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
29. ^ "Permanent Mission of the Republic of Singapore in Geneva". Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
30. ^ a b "Permanent Mission of the Republic of Singapore in Vienna". Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
31. ^ "Singapore appoints new High Commissioner to Australia and permanent delegate to Unesco". The Straits Times. July 19, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.

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