Africa

The 2023 edition of the online Africa Dialogue Series begins today. Titled “Market and Scale: Unlocking Industrialization through Intra-African Trade”, the series will focus on how the African Continental Free-Trade Area could accelerate sustainable development.

Following is UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s message to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation Leadership Ceremony, in Nairobi today:

The Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) today condemned the arson incident against the Saint Pantelija Orthodox Church in Prizren, which took place earlier this week. She noted that attacks against religious and cultural sites undermine interethnic and interreligious relations.

The international community must seize the window of opportunity presented by a fragile ceasefire in the Great Lakes region, the Security Council heard today amidst warnings about local armed groups and the pillaging of natural resources.

Volker Perthes, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan, is still in Khartoum and is continuing to engage with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and other key Member States on the ground in efforts to secure an immediate de-escalation and cessation of the fighting.

The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) has completed deliveries of critical supplies to two of the Team Sites east of the berm at Tifariti and Mehaires, with the support of the Frente POLISARIO, as well as Morocco. These deliveries will enable the sites to remain operational.

Highlighting the links between durable peace, inclusive development, security and stability in the African continent, speakers in the Security Council today emphasized the need for greater international cooperation and support for “African solutions to African problems”, during a debate on the impact of development policies in implementing the African Union’s “Silencing the Guns” initiative, one of the signature events of Mozambique’s presidency.

In Vanuatu, the World Food Programme’s Pacific Humanitarian Air Service today transported 15 metric tons of critical medical and food supplies for over 250,000 people, about 80 per cent of the population, that have been impacted by the two category 4 cyclones and earthquakes that hit the country in early March.

A new report from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) finds the cholera outbreak impacting 11 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa is an “emergency for children”. The agency is mobilizing health supplies, safe water and technical support in the region, and is calling for $171 million to protect those in need.

With terrorism and violent extremism spreading across Africa at an alarming rate, counter-efforts must take into account the socioeconomic drivers of terrorist recruitment, challenges posed by climate change and terrorist Internet propaganda, the Security Council heard today, as speakers called for greater support in the fight against the evolving threat, as well as enhanced cooperation among the United Nations, African Union and African subregional organizations.