Mozambique begins its two-year term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council today.

The ceremony is scheduled for 12 noon in New York, United States (7pm in Mozambique), and will be attended by the Mozambican ambassador to the United Nations, Pedro Comissário, who is expected to hoist the African country's flag and make an inaugural speech.

"We're going to be dealing a lot with terrorism," said Commissioner Pedro, quoted by the organization's official media outlet, UN News, and by Lusa.

In addition to bringing the fight against terrorism to the table of the United Nations Security Council, according to the diplomat, Mozambique wants to raise the debate on the need for a reform of the body to include "African concerns".

"Attention needs to be paid to reforming the Security Council to reflect the concerns of Africa, a region that has suffered a historic injustice. We have no permanent member on the Security Council," warned Pedro.

Mozambique was elected a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the period 2023 and 2024 on June 9.

This body, created to maintain international peace and security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations, has five permanent members - the United States of America, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and China - and 10 non-permanent members.

Every year, the General Assembly elects five out of a total of 10 non-permanent members, who, according to a UN resolution, are distributed as follows: five Africans and Asians, one from Eastern Europe, two from Latin America, two from Western Europe and other states.

Mozambique's election took place at a time when the armed insurgency in Cabo Delgado province remains the main security challenge, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The insurgency, which has lasted for the last five years, led to a military response since July 2021 with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near the gas projects, but new waves of attacks have emerged in the south of the region and in the neighboring province of Nampula.

The conflict has already displaced a million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and caused around 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.