As Destabilizing Conflicts Escalate across Africa, United Nations-African Union Partnership Has Never Been More Critical, Top Officials Tell Security Council
The partnership between the United Nations and African Union has never been more critical, several senior officials told the Security Council today, as they laid out the myriad challenges facing the continent from the world’s largest forced displacement crisis and numerous instances of political instability to territorial disputes and climate-change-driven insecurity.
“As the Council is aware, several African countries and sub-regions continue to face significant challenges to achieving lasting peace, security and sustainable development,” Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union, told the 15-member body.
The first of three briefers to outline developments on the ground in Africa and describe in detail what issues and challenges the UN-African Union collaboration was taking on, Mr. Onanga-Anyanga said the Secretary-General’s latest report (document S/2024/629) underscores the strategic importance of and need for the two organizations — including the work of his Office — to closely coordinate efforts to help address complex political transitions.
In the Horn of Africa, political instability, territorial disputes and an ever-worsening humanitarian situation are driving several destabilizing conflicts, he said. The conflict in Sudan has caused a grave humanitarian emergency, leading to the largest forced displacement crisis in the world, involving over 10 million people. In the Sahel region, political instability and violence have intensified, while uncertainty characterizes transition processes in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger. And in the Great Lake region, the 30 July ceasefire agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, facilitated by Angola, has translated into a reduction of fighting, but concerns remain. “All groups must lay down their weapons and disarm,” he stressed.
The commitment of the member States of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to support peace efforts through the deployment of a mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is commendable, he continued. However, the link between climate change and peace and security is “a reality that cannot be denied in Africa”, he said, adding that the impact of climate change is putting to the test the resilience of States. Welcoming the recent adoption of the Pact of the Future, he said that accord calls for stronger cooperation between the UN and regional organizations, and underscores Africa’s key role in promoting an effective and inclusive multilateral system.
Also briefing the Council today was Fatima Kyari Mohammed, Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations, who commended the African Union for utilizing its capacity to prevent and resolve conflicts while tapping into the UN’s political legitimacy, experience, and support to achieve its peace and security goals. “The collaboration between the two institutions is founded on the principle of complementarity, recognizing that no single entity can fully tackle current and future security challenges alone,” she said.
“Given the evolving security landscape in Africa, and instances where United Nations peacekeeping missions may not be suitable, it is critical to recognize how African Union-led peace support operations, including enforcement actions, contribute to both regional and global peace and security efforts,” she added. The Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission should identify countries where Council resolution 2719 (2023) — on financing African Union-led peace support operations — can serve as the financing framework for peace-building efforts, thereby enhancing national capacity to consolidate the achievements of such operations. She pointed out how the African Union-United Nations Joint Framework on Human Rights explicitly highlights the need to promote women's full and equal participation in political, economic and social life, and recognizes the critical role of young people in promoting peace, development and human rights.
Prioritizing Africa in the reform of the Security Council is crucial, she said. She also called for collective efforts to address the conflicts in Sudan and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, consolidate gains in Mozambique and Somalia, and combat the spread of violent extremism in the Sahel, the Lake Chad Basin and West Africa. Equally critical is the need to tackle the ongoing threat of piracy in the Gulf of Aden, and take action to support countries facing both climate change and conflict. “The time has come for our two institutions to take bold, coordinated action to achieve our critical shared objectives in Africa,” she said.
Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, said since the adoption of Council resolution 2719 (2023), which “marked a major milestone” in the UN-African Union partnership, the United Nations Secretariat has intensified its collaboration with the African Union Commission. “As a result, significant progress has already been achieved towards the operationalization of the resolution,” she said, citing the need for close working relations between the African Union Peace and Security Council and the UN Security Council to ensure smooth joint planning.
The text’s implementation will present complex challenges, specifically on peace enforcement missions due to the inherent risks, she said. A possible first test case for the implementation of the Joint Framework on Human Rights is currently being discussed, based on Council resolution 2748 (2024), adopted in August. The African Union Commission and the UN Secretariat in consultation with Somalia’s Government and relevant international and regional stakeholders are jointly planning for the successor of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS). “As requested by the Council, we are preparing a report that articulates clearly a range of options for financing it,” she added.
Several Council members expressed the need to ensure predictable, reliable, and sustainable financing for such operations, hailing the adoption of resolution 2719 (2023), while also voicing broad support for strengthening the UN-African Union partnership to deal with the myriad challenges plaguing the continent.
The representative of Sierra Leone, speaking also for Algeria, Mozambique and Guyana — known as the A3+ group — said such cooperation is essential for the collaboration outlined in the UN’s New Agenda for Peace. The African Union “has consistently demonstrated its capacity to leverage its comparative advantages and act as the first responder to the continent’s security threats, whether through mediation efforts or the deployment of peace support operations”, he said, adding that as penholders and Africa’s voice in the Council, the group will continue to lead as it keenly refines implementation of resolution 2719 (2023), a crucial tool in the peace and security toolbox.
As the African Union Peace and Security Council commemorates two decades of life, the continent’s peace and security architecture must have the agency, resources and political support to effectively shape its security landscape, he continued. “This effort includes reflecting Africa’s positions into the deliberations of the UN Security Council,” he said, whether in establishing mandates for the Organization’s peacekeeping operations, reviewing sanctions regimes, mediation efforts or coordinating humanitarian interventions. Ensuring women, youth and marginalized communities are “not just beneficiaries of peace, but also its architects” is also crucial, as is addressing the persistent threat of terrorism and violent extremism, particularly the Sahel region of West Africa.
Also supporting the adoption of resolution 2719 (2023) as a historic step towards expanding the available toolkit to foster peace and security across Africa, the United States’ speaker said “it is much more than a funding mechanism. It is an opportunity for a stronger partnership between the UN and the AU,” noting that collaboration will be carried out in areas from human rights compliance to legal frameworks to procurement. Recognizing the needs of civilians is critical to its success. “We must take up this work together and to uphold its credibility,” he said. “People will be watching this mechanism closely.”
Turning to Council resolution 2748 (2024), which asks the Secretary-General to report on the overall design for a follow-on mission to replace ATMIS in Somalia, the United Kingdom’s delegate looked forward to proposals from the UN and African Union in that regard, in consultation with Somalia’s Government and international stakeholders. “It is imperative that the final mission is financially viable, deliverable and supports Somalia's efforts to eventually assume full responsibility for, and ownership of, its security,” he said.
France’s representative joined the chorus of delegates calling for bolstering Africa’s representation in the Council. The Russian Federation’s speaker said one way to do this is by increasing the A3+ penholder role in the body and giving the continent “sufficient political space” in countering threats.
The representatives of Slovenia and the Republic of Korea pointed out how regular meetings, such as the upcoming Ninth Joint Informal Seminar and the Eighteenth Annual Joint Consultative Meeting between the Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council, are important platforms to discuss key peace and security challenges.
Japan’s speaker said the Council must recognize the impact of climate change on Africa’s peace and security, with its potential for increasing violence, including between farmers and herders, and recruitment by terrorist or violent extremist groups. Adding to that, Malta’s representative stressed the need to develop a common African position on climate-related peace and security risks.
China’s speaker warned against allowing Africa’s interests “to get diluted”. “Poverty and war are by no means Africa’s destiny,” he said and called on developed countries to fulfil their financial obligations to the continent. His counterpart from Ecuador added that the inclusion of African sherpas in the framework of the Group of Twenty (20) ensures that Africa's needs and interests are directly heard. The African Union's determination to silence the guns across the continent, within the bloc’s Agenda 2063, deserves full support, he stressed.
The delegate for Switzerland, Council President for October, said that by sharing best practices and strengthening collaboration, the UN and the African Union can multiply their impact to deliver peace and development for Africa, which will be home to 40 per cent of the world's young people by 2050. “They embody hope and commitment,” she said, noting a young Sudanese woman’s poignant appeal at the Summit of the Future last week to shape a future based on cooperation, understanding and common goals. “It is therefore essential to give them the means to act and fully involve them in peace and development processes,” she said.