Kenya narrowly won an election for a non-permanent United Nations Security Council seat Thursday, in a vote impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
India, Ireland, Mexico and Norway all won their bids in first-round voting on Wednesday, but neither Kenya nor Djibouti attained the two-thirds majority needed in the U.N. General Assembly to take a seat designated for Africa on the powerful 15-nation council.
In a second round on Thursday, Kenya achieved the slimmest of victories, obtaining 129 votes, one more than needed to win the seat.
Djibouti’s foreign minister congratulated Kenya after the vote.
In the first round of voting on Wednesday, Ireland and Norway also had a tight race with Canada over two available seats for their regional group.
