20th July, 2017
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has pledged to strengthen the partnership between the African Union and the UN in order to change the narrative about Africa.
The Secretary-General’s in remarks to the Security Council on Enhancing African Capacities in the areas of Peace and Security said AU and UN have a shared interest in defusing conflicts before they escalate.
Guterres said “in my first days as Secretary-General, I attended the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa. I wanted to launch a new era of cooperation with the AU founded on a core conviction.
“I firmly believe the international community needs to change the narrative about Africa and to establish a higher platform of cooperation that recognizes Africa’s enormous potential and promise.
“In the area of peace and security, the African Union and United Nations have a shared interest in strengthening mechanisms to defuse conflicts before they escalate, and to manage them effectively when they occur.
“Enhancing African capacities is essentially both in the context of our collective response to international peace and security challenges as well as for the self-reliance of the African continent.
“This is why, on April 19, I joined with the Chairperson of the AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat to sign a Joint UN-AU Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security”.
READ: Acting President receives UN Deputy Scribe, Mohammed
Guterres said the shared objective of the two organizations was to work closely on the basis of the principles of mutual respect and comparative advantage in all stages of the conflict cycle and in a systematic, predictable and strategic manner.
He said there was the need to identify underlying causes of conflict, work closely to develop together joint analysis, share information and strive to reach common understandings leading to early action.
According to him, it is also critical that the two organisations build on their work with sub-regional mechanisms to help tackle political disputes.
“In The Gambia, for example, the strong leadership of West African nations — with the support of ECOWAS, the African Union and United Nations – contributed significantly to find a peaceful settlement to the political crisis.”
He noted efforts by African countries in responding to conflicts, saying the AU and the sub-regional organizations have deployed tremendous efforts to develop and operationalize standby and joint task force.
“In the Lake Chad Basin, we must continue supporting African Union and the Multinational Joint Task Force efforts against Boko Haram and other regional initiatives to counter terrorism and violent extremism, ideally with a more effective support,” he said.
Guterres said one of the Joint UN-AU framework focused on addressing the root causes of conflicts, emphasizing shared commitment to increase cooperation related to peacebuilding and the rule of law.
According to him, sustaining peace and continued development requires strengthening of national institutions to address the root causes of conflict.