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Mismatch between Peacekeeping Mandates, Funds, Centrality of Charter-Based Principles Spotlighted in Security Council Debate on Regional Partnerships

7343rd Meeting (PM)
Security Council
Meetings Coverage

Presidential Statement Issued in Line with Secretary-General’s Call for ‘New Level of Clarity, Practicality and Predictability’ in Joint Endeavours

Commending the African Union for its growing role in peace and security in its region, the Security Council today stressed the importance of building a stronger and more cohesive partnership between it and the United Nations in conflict prevention and resolution, rapid response to emerging crises, protection of children and peacebuilding.

Ahead of an open debate on the issue, Council members, in a statement presented by Moussa Faki Mahamat, Minister for Foreign Affairs and African Integration of Chad, which holds the body’s December presidency, highlighted the need for closer coordination between the two organizations on policing issues, civilian protection, security-sector reform and post-conflict reconstruction.

Commending in particular the African Union’s increased contributions in Sudan’s Darfur region, Mali, the Central African Republic and Somalia, the Council welcomed the creation of the Regional Task Force and the operationalization of both the African Standby Force and the Rapid Deployment Capability. Using all such capabilities, it stressed the urgency of addressing instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya and South Sudan as well. It particularly encouraged the Union to continue mainstreaming child protection and women’s empowerment into all its activities.

For further progress in the partnership with the United Nations, the Council affirmed its need to establish a more effective relationship with the Union’s Peace and Security Council. Joint planning and field missions, the sharing of lessons learned and follow-up on all initiatives were needed to formulate cohesive positions and strategies on a case-by-case basis in dealing with conflict situations in Africa. Closer cooperation should be pursued between the United Nations Secretariat and the African Union Commission as well, the text said.

Reiterating also through the statement that regional organizations had the responsibility to secure human, financial, logistical and other resources, the Council recognized, however, that the African Union faced challenges in ensuring those resources in a predictable, sustainable and flexible manner. It welcomed support provided by Member States and international organizations in that regard.

The statement also underscored the importance of developing a follow-up programme to the 10-year joint capacity-building programme initiated in 2006. It supported the formulation of a concrete five-year plan for United Nations support to the African Union in achieving the goal of a conflict-free Africa by 2020, which was embraced by the continent’s leaders in 2013.

“The time has come for us to take our partnership to a new level of clarity, practicality and predictability,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, affirming that the world must act as one to deal with crises in Africa and commending the African Union for doing more than ever before to meet challenges on the continent. “I look forward to deepening our ties as we strive to meet the yearning of the continent’s people for lasting peace,” he added.

It was already clear, however, that stronger political partnerships anchored in a clear strategic vision and greater cooperation with partners would enhance joint logistical capabilities. In that light, he said, trilateral discussions with the European Union should be strengthened and funding challenges must be addressed, including further resources from Africa and innovative ways to mobilize the international community.

Representing the African Union, Pierre Buyoya, Head of the organization’s Mission for Mali and the Sahel, said that to make the partnership more effective, the new Joint Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security could be refined and extended across the organizations. The two organizations, in addition, needed to agree on a set of basic principles revolving around African ownership and priority setting, consultative decision-making and sharing of responsibilities based on comparative advantages.

A solution to the absence of a flexible, sustainable and predictable funding source must be urgently found, Mr. Buyoya said. While the Union strove to increase Member States’ contributions, outside support, including from the United Nations, was an important complement. The Council should duly consider the Union’s legitimate requests and address the funding of African Union-led peace support operations undertaken with the Security Council’s authorization.

Following those presentations, Security Council members and other speakers welcomed the increased role of the African Union in peace and security in Africa, particularly in such areas as early warning and rapid response, although some stressed the importance of ensuring that the Council maintained its primary responsibility in that regard and that all coordination with the Union must conform to the relevant Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter.

Several speakers spoke of improving transitions between African Union and United Nations peacekeeping operations, and stressed the need for more joint planning activities to improve complementarity.

Many also urged that financing for African Union operations, particularly those that were authorized by the Security Council, be made more predictable and sustainable. To that end, Nigeria’s representative supported using United Nations assessed contributions, in line with the Prodi report. Among those opposing the use of assessed contributions was the representative of the United States, who warned that would create oversight problems, among other challenges. He, along with the representatives of other partner countries, pledged continued support for a range of operation-specific and capacity-building initiatives.

Also today, many speakers expressed condolences to those who lost loved ones in today’s attack on a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, with the Secretary-General making a formal statement on the incident, in which well over 100 people were killed.

The Foreign Minister of Chad also made a statement in his national capacity.

Also speaking today were the representatives of the United Kingdom, Australia, Rwanda, Russian Federation, Argentina, Jordan, Chile, Lithuania, France, China, Luxembourg, Republic of Korea, Pakistan, India, Brazil, Sweden (on behalf of the Nordic countries), Malaysia, New Zealand, Egypt, Algeria, Japan, Ireland, Turkey, Iran (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement), Indonesia, Netherlands, Slovakia, Namibia, Kazakhstan, Italy, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tunisia.

The representative of the European Union Delegation also made a statement.

The meeting opened at 10:05 a.m. and closed at 3:22 p.m.

Statement of Secretary-General

BAN KI-MOON, Secretary-General of the United Nations, after issuing a statement on the terrorist attack on a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, calling it an act of horror, said that cooperation between the African Union and the United Nations in matters of peace and security was crucial and must systematically take place at the first sign of crisis. He called for further such cooperation, with recognition of the strengths of each organization.

“Our partnership must be based on a common understanding of what each organization can do in any given context and on a realistic assessment of each other’s comparative advantages,” he said, citing the operations in Mali and the Central African Republic as recent evidence of growing cooperation, in addition to coordinated work in Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and the Great Lakes region.

Quick-onset crises, such as the recent uprising in Burkina Faso, showed that a greater emphasis was needed on preventive action, he said. In addition, he highlighted the complex new peacekeeping landscape, with some operations deployed in the absence of peace agreements and in the face of terrorism and other non-State activities. In some situations, multiple international actors and even parallel missions were present.

Noting that he had launched a major review of peace operations as part of efforts to address those challenges, he said that strengthening the partnership with the African Union and other regional organizations would be examined in that light. In addition to that review, he was also examining handover modalities from African Union to United Nations operations, and would submit an assessment report on the progress of peacekeeping partnerships in March 2015.

It was already clear, he said, that stronger political partnerships anchored in a clear strategic vision and greater cooperation with partners would enhance joint logistical capabilities and enable the provision of “mobility, capacity and robustness”, through creative approaches. Trilateral discussions with the European Union should be strengthened in that light. Funding challenges must also be addressed, including further resources from Africa and innovative ways to mobilize the international community.

“The time has come for us to take our partnership to a new level of clarity, practicality and predictability,” he said, affirming that the world must act as one to deal with crises in Africa. He commended the African Union for doing more than ever before to meet challenges on the continent, adding, “I look forward to deepening our ties as we strive to meet the yearning of the continent’s people for lasting peace.”

Briefing

PIERRE BUYOYA, Head of the African Union Mission for Mali and the Sahel, said the Union’s strategic relationship with the Council had been growing steadily, enabling them to establish regular consultations on issues of common concern and interest in the area of peace and security, where the collaboration was most visible. The new Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security could be refined and extended across the organizations.

Many examples testified to the close complementarity between the African initiatives and those of the United Nations, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region, in Mali, Guinea-Bissau, and the Central African Republic, as well as in a number of other cross-cutting issues. Despite that progress, Africa still accounted for the highest number of conflicts among all continents and faced a new set of threats, including governance-related intra-State conflicts and violence, terrorism and transnational crime, piracy, border disputes and the effects of climate change.

The Union’s peace support operations in Burundi, Darfur, Mali, Central African Republic and Somalia and the sacrifices of its personnel had facilitated the task of the United Nations missions. The operationalization of the African Standby Force would help find answers to some of the shortcomings noted in recent operations. However, one of the greatest constraints was the absence of a flexible, sustainable and predictable funding source, for which a solution must be urgently found. While the Union strove to increase Member States’ contributions, outside support, including from the United Nations, was an important complement.

The two organizations should agree on a set of principles aimed at clarifying their relationship and anchoring it on a more solid platform, he said, adding that those principles should revolve around African ownership and priority setting, consultative decision making, and division of labour and sharing of responsibilities based on comparative advantages. The Council should duly consider the Union’s legitimate requests and address the funding of African Union-led peace support operations undertaken with United Nations consent. The review of United Nations peace operations by the high-level panel recently appointed by the Secretary-General was an opportunity to further the two organizations’ common objectives.

Statements

MOUSSA FAKI MAHAMAT, Minister for Foreign Affairs and African Integration of Chad, first expressed his condolences to the people and Government of Pakistan, who had recently experienced “terrorist barbarism”. Outlining the pillars for cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union, he said they collaborated in various aspects of the Peace and Security Architecture: early warning, mediation, electoral assistance, maintenance of peace and post-conflict reconstruction. Information exchange and joint assessments should be improved, and he encouraged the Joint Task Force for Peace and Security to establish common understandings of the causes of conflict in Africa and outline a joint approach to solve them.

The Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council should work towards a “conflict-free Africa” by 2020, he said, in line with the African Union 50th Anniversary Solemn Declaration. He urged both Councils to find solutions to situations in Libya, Mali, Darfur, Central African Republic, South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia. He also urged support for the Union’s Panel of the Wise, encouraging the Joint Task Force to design a successor programme. Recalling that the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) had been launched by the African Union and other regional organizations, with the Council later “taking up the baton”, he stressed the need for better predictability for flexible financing arrangements. He welcomed the role of the European Union and United States in supporting African Union missions.

USMAN SARKI (Nigeria) said improving the institutional collaboration between the Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council required moving towards more practical cooperation mechanisms. The perennial problem was how to operationalize Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter, designed in another era. A more balanced collaboration at the organizational and political levels was needed. On operational challenges, more could be done to enhance capacity building programmes and planning exercises. The high-level panel set up to review peacekeeping operations should consult with the African Union, which had established an African standby force. On financial resources, he said recommendations from the “Prodi” and “Obasanjo” panels had not produced major results. To meet those challenges, the African Union sought authorization to use United Nations assessed contributions for operations, in line with the Prodi report. Nigeria supported the current deepened collaboration between the Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council through annual joint consultations. More attention should be paid to information management to improve mandate implementation.

MARK LYALL GRANT (United Kingdom), expressing condolences to those affected by violence in Pakistan, noted the professionalism in planning the transition from an African Union to a United Nations mission in the Central African Republic. Cooperation had led to results on the ground in Somalia, where the African Union Mission there, known as AMISOM, reflected the best of African peace operations. He commended the mutually reinforcing political engagement from the United Nations, African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in addressing the political crisis in Burkina Faso, as well as the Union’s collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) in addressing the Ebola epidemic. Going forward, challenges included the growth of asymmetric threats and collaboration among extremist terrorist groups. There were opportunities to enhance partnerships, and the United Kingdom looked forward to the UNAMID review in that context. He welcomed the Union’s long- and short-term monitoring missions to help carry out electoral processes. He urged joint work to surmount financing obstacles and those related to troop-contributing country issues, encouraging the Union to allocate more resources for African peace support operations. Shortfalls in troop-contributing country training and equipment also must be addressed.

GARY FRANCIS QUINLAN (Australia) said the United Nations and the African Union “need each other more than ever”. The Union had repeatedly shown its comparative advantages and strengths: knowledge of context, ability to deploy quickly and willingness to act robustly. He urged enhancing the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing for Council-authorized African Union missions, stressing that the AMISOM model had worked well, but faced resistance in the Council to repeating it. While managing the transitions from African Union to United Nations missions had improved, the results had been mixed on deploying assets, and he urged more joint assessments. Facilitating rapid deployment was another challenge, he said, adding, “No one has got this right”. He pointed in particular to the United Nations struggle to reach authorized strengths in South Sudan and Mali. In closing, he said engagement with the African Union must be deepened at the strategic, operational and tactical levels.

EUGÈNE-RICHARD GASANA (Rwanda), expressing condolences for the attack in Peshawar, affirmed the importance of strengthening cooperation between the United Nations and African Union, noting that resolution 2167 (2014) on partnerships with regional organizations was adopted during his country’s Council presidency. Today’s text strengthened that one. But it was critical to move from ad hoc to more structured partnerships. With international support, there had been a steady improvement in the ability of the Union to address regional challenges. Areas needed improvement, however, including the provision of adequate resources for mandated missions. There was an obvious need for rapid response to crises as well, and regional organizations must have the capacity for that. Predictable financing also was needed, from partners as well as from the African continent.

VITALY CHURKIN (Russian Federation), condemning the attack in Peshawar, stressed the importance of cooperation with regional organizations under the Charter, which maintained the Security Council’s primary responsibility for international peace and security. Cooperation in crisis response was particularly important. He welcomed the establishment of a peace and security architecture within the Union, and looked for enhancement of joint activities with the United Nations. Mandatory feedback on certain areas was needed, including regular reporting by mandated African Union operations. He noted his country’s contributions to strengthening cooperation with the Union as well as to peacekeeping operations themselves, and he pledged continued support to build African capacity in peacekeeping, particularly through training provided in Russian institutions.

MARÍA CRISTINA PERCEVAL (Argentina), expressing solidarity with the people of Pakistan following the school attack, acknowledged the important contribution of the African Union in the maintenance of peace and security under Charter arrangements. Its activities complemented the work of the United Nations, particularly in addressing conflict’s root causes. Cooperation, trust and joint leadership should be the basis of such cooperation and not decentralization to accomplish mandates in a less expensive way. She affirmed that the Security Council must be able to listen to what the organizations said about the crises, and regional organizations must regularly report to the Council. The relationship must be based on common objectives and strategies. She urged the strengthening of coordination mechanisms and stressed that discussions of mutual responsibilities in the area of financial support must not be put off any longer. The principles of consent of the parties, non-partiality and non-use of force outside of the mandate must continue to be respected in all situations, she added.

MAHMOUD DAIFALLAH MAHMOUD HMOUD (Jordan), expressing solidarity to Pakistan following the school attack, affirmed the need for peacekeeping to adapt to new, complex challenges, which meant further cooperation with regional organizations, especially those that had a presence in conflict areas. In that light, he welcomed the African Union’s role in the maintenance of peace, as well as its institutional ties with the United Nations at various levels. He maintained that necessary expertise and resources should be ensured to the Union for mandated activities, and he called for greater complementarity of the two organizations in post-conflict situations across the full range of peacebuilding activities. It was important for all cooperation to be guided by Charter principles, as well as by the objectives of the Organization’s development programmes. He looked forward to the assessment and recommendations of the Secretary-General on strengthening peacekeeping and partnerships on a case-by-case basis.

CRISTIÁN BARROS MELET (Chile), expressing his condolences at the school attack in Pakistan, supported an efficient multilateralism that had the ability to incorporate regional and subregional organizations. The participation of those groups was crucial, as they incorporated a vision of local actors who offered different views about the origins and impacts of conflict. Chile supported regional agreements that had a holistic vision of the problems and promoted the exchange of good practices and lessons learned. Chile also supported predictability, sustainability and flexibility in financing peacekeeping operations to enable rapid response. Such deployment required well-equipped contingents, with a focus on human rights training. Cooperation between the Council and regional and subregional organizations must be institutionalized, he said, citing the crucial role of preventive diplomacy.

RAIMONDA MURMOKAITÉ (Lithuania), associating with the European Union, said that at the Fourth European Union-Africa Summit, leaders had committed to strengthening the operationalization of the Peace and Security Architecture. Enhancing collaboration, based on lessons learned from recent mission transitions, was crucial. Noting that regional and subregional organizations were best placed to understand the root causes of conflict, she said effective and timely partnerships could prevent a crisis, as had been seen in Burkina Faso. She urged a strengthening of early warning efforts, dialogue and mediation capacities, as well as collaboration between good offices — notably the envoys of the United Nations and African Union. She welcomed the Union’s commitment to operationalize the African capacity for immediate crisis response. “Getting partnerships right” was important for success. As such, a better understanding of each other’s working methods was needed, as was identifying opportunities for joint planning at strategic and operational levels. Cooperation between the Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council would help formulate coherent positions.

DAVID PRESSMAN (United States), expressing condolences to victims of the Taliban’s attack on a school in Pakistan, said the African Union had shown leadership in responding to conflict. The Council had a unique role, but decisions should be taken in consultation with States, regional and subregional organizations and potential troop contributors. Decisions related to mission deployment must be made on a case-by-case basis. Enhancing the capacity of regional forces was critical, but their ability to deploy must be seen as complementary to the United Nations own ability to carry them out. To accelerate crisis response, he urged more collaboration, noting his country’s commitment to improving the Council’s engagement with the African Union Peace and Security Council. Mission transitions in Mali and the Central African Republic had shown that the Union was better able to deploy more quickly. The United States had created a rapid-response partnership which envisioned new investment for deploying peacekeepers. It did not, however, support assessing States for the expenses of regional organizations. However, it supported African Union operations through bilateral and other assistance.

FRANÇOIS DELATTRE (France), expressing condolences to the victims of the school attack in Pakistan, said the Council’s annual consultations with the African Union Peace and Security Council and the establishment of a joint task force had shown that the partnership was operating at several levels. Recent events in Mali and the Central African Republic, where United Nations intervention had been preceded by an African Union force, had shown the effectiveness of that partnership. France, as penholder for several African crises, would ensure coordination with African Council members and other African representatives in New York. The African Union received support from the European Union, which had committed €750 million for 2014-2016. France supported that policy, and itself had backed African peace capabilities, notably the training of 25,000 African soldiers. He welcomed contributions by other partners, including the United States and China, which must be part of a shared vision for peace. On financing, he called for more secure resources from Africa. The question of how missions could best cooperate should be explored, as such discussions fed more general debate on the evolution of peacekeeping.

LIU JIEYI (China), expressing condolences for the school attack in Pakistan, stressed the primary responsibility of the Security Council for international peace and security but also affirmed the importance of cooperation with the African Union, given the number of conflicts on the continent and the Union’s advantages in dealing with them. The United Nations should respect the Union’s recommendations and develop a more comprehensive means of cooperation in order to develop a more solid basis for peace in Africa. More support should be provided in crisis response and conflict resolution, early warning and other areas through a number of mechanisms, including information sharing and resource support. Noting the deployment of Chinese peacekeepers in many African operations, he pledged further support for training, rapid response and African peacekeeping capacity, as well as advocacy for more effective cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union.

SYLVIE LUCAS (Luxembourg), associating with the European Union and expressing condolences on the school attack in Pakistan, said that strengthening cooperation with regional organizations was not only desirable but necessary. She highlighted the African Union’s valuable contributions in the area of protection of children and called for follow up on such previous activities. Stronger cooperation would improve information in the early stage of a conflict. She urged a strong, coordinated stance from both organizations in pressuring leaders of the parties in South Sudan to implement agreements to end the conflict. She noted European support for the African Union, some of it from Luxembourg, through training programmes and the African Peace Facility, and supported greater triangular cooperation between the United Nations, the European Union and the African Union to address the root causes of conflict on the continent.

OH JOON (Republic of Korea), expressing solidarity with Pakistan following the school attack, welcomed the broadening and deepening of the strategic partnership between the Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council. Creative means must be found, however, to address the lack of resources for the Union’s peacekeeping activities. He supported the Union’s efforts to build rapid response capacity, and stressed the need for improved transitions between African and United Nations operations. He looked forward to a comprehensive assessment of the challenges and their solutions in the forthcoming review by the Secretary-General.

MASOOD KHAN (Pakistan), thanking all those who had expressed sympathy over the attack on a school in his country, welcomed the strong institutional linkages between the Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council. He said that financial support to the Union should be predictable and sustainable, with a fresh drive to examine all possible sources. Joint initiatives had built upon complementarities and, in that light, African Union involvement at an earlier stage of crises was needed. Rapid response capacity was particularly important, he stressed, noting that Pakistan had decided to deploy a specialized unit for that purpose in MONUSCO. He stressed the mutual responsibility for funding, as well as the need for utilizing lessons learned, maintaining professionalism and impartiality and heavier investment in peacebuilding. He pledged his country’s steadfast support for partnership between the Union and the United Nations.

BHAGWANT SINGH BISHNOI (India), condemning the attacks in Pakistan, stated that his country’s relationship with Africa had a strong political foundation as well as an economic dimension. India was also the largest overall contributor to peacekeeping operations. While regional arrangements could play an appropriate role in maintaining peace, India believed that the United Nations could not disengage by contracting peacekeeping to regional arrangements whose role must be to reinforce, and not replace, the United Nations. Turning to the Prodi report, he added that the Council must request the Secretary-General to draw up a road map for the implementation of the report’s recommendations. However, given that the Council had adopted its outcome document before opening the floor to non-members, his delegation could not help but question the utility of the open debate. Concluding, he said that enhancing collaboration between the African Union Security Council and the United Nations Security Council was another area that could benefit from simple actions on the ground rather than anything grandiose.

NICK WESTCOTT, Managing Director for Africa, European External Action Service of the European Union, said that his organization’s partnerships with the African Union and the United Nations increasingly overlapped. Reaffirming support for the African Peace and Security Architecture, he added, “The European Union has put its money where its mouth is.” In the past 10 years, the European Union had provided 1.2 billion euros in support of African Union-led peace operations. Other examples of trilateral cooperation included the training missions that the European Union provided to Mali under its Common Security and Defense Policy. Further, the European Union was pursing conflict prevention in close collaboration with the African Union and the United Nations, and would support their efforts to bring about good governance and respect for human rights.

ANTONIO DE AGUIAR PATRIOTA (Brazil) said the history of the relationship between the United Nations and the African Union provided a number of lessons the debate would help to assess. Institutionally, ever more advanced and increasingly tested by a range of challenges, the Union also had solutions to share, including from the relapse of conflict in Libya, the Central African Republic and South Sudan, as well as on initiatives to promote the stabilization of the Great Lakes region and much of West Africa, even in the face of the Ebola epidemic. Cooperation between the United Nations and any regional organization in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter could be a way for the Council to better exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Financial constraints should not drive policy decisions in such cooperation, and hybrid missions should be evaluated according to their own merit, and not taken as models to be necessarily replicated. While local Powers had comparative advantages, neighbours often were part, not only of the solutions, but also of the problems. While peacekeeping mandates must be accompanied by the necessary resources, no amount of funding would be enough without diplomacy.

PER THÖRESSON (Sweden), speaking on behalf of the Nordic countries, commended the African Union’s lead role in such missions as AMISOM. There were lessons to be learned from the cooperation between the Union and the United Nations, including in Darfur, Mali and the Central African Republic. “We must strive towards better complementarity of roles,” he said, stressing that financing and improved capabilities must be part of the discussion. The Union’s role in ensuring peace and stability in Africa could be strengthened through closer cooperation between the Peace and Security Architecture and the African Governance Architecture. Women’s full participation in conflict prevention, management and resolution, as well as in post-conflict efforts, was essential for building peace, as was inclusive economic growth, equitable social development, and progress in democracy, governance and human rights. State-building was also crucial.

HUSSEIN HANIFF (Malaysia), associating with the Non-Aligned Movement, urged the United Nations to develop a more effective partnership with the African Union Peace and Security Council. Regional organizations were well-positioned to analyse conflict’s root causes. The two bodies must improve collaboration on peace and security in Africa. Malaysia supported efforts by both sides to harmonize their approach to crisis management and peacekeeping, as well as to mobilize their political, civilian and military resources to bolster regional security. The partnership could be enhanced by learning new lessons, developing tools and intensifying engagement with civil society. More clarity was needed on how the Security Council should best consult with the African Union Peace and Security Council. The recommendation by the Joint Task Force on information exchange could strengthen cooperation in combating terrorism. There also should be more interaction between the presidents of the Council and the Peace and Security Council.

JIM MCLAY (New Zealand) said his Government had consistently advocated for strengthened cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations. The Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council should ensure that the format of their annual consultations allowed for genuine discussion and constructive exchange. Their discussions should not be limited to once a year, but should be ongoing, particularly between the two presidents. Further, there should be constant and better-quality information-sharing between the two bodies, especially on emerging crises. In that context, he welcomed ideas proposed at last week’s High Level Seminar on Peace and Security in Algeria on how to link African Council members with the African Union Peace and Security Council. Solutions must be found so that missions had more dependable financing and the Council must take bold steps to resolve the funding and capacity issue facing African-led mission.

AMR ABDELLATIF ABOULATTA (Egypt), associating with the Non-Alignment Movement, said the high-level review of peace operations should find ways of strengthening the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union, and regional African consultations should be held as part of that review. The relationship between the African Union and United Nations should aim to build the Union’s capacity. Egypt’s priorities included the operationalization of the African Standby Force. It had been an active participant in recent initiatives towards strengthening the African Union’s ability to cooperate with subregional organizations. He stressed the need for institutional cooperation between the African Union and United Nations to build peace in all its dimensions, including in the post-conflict phase. However, efforts to strengthen partnership would not be fruitful without adequate human resources and capacities. The Union had developed the architecture for peacekeeping in Africa and was looking forward to greater support from the Council towards that end.

SABRI BOUKADOUM (Algeria) said principled, consistent and strong cooperation between regional and subregional organizations was indispensable to the maintenance of international peace and security. The debate came at a time when the African Union was making tremendous efforts to address the peace and security challenges. While much progress had been made in cooperation between the United Nations and the Union, it had yet to reach its full potential. A more effective relationship was needed between the Council and the Union’s Peace and Security Council through more annual consultative meetings and collaborative field missions. Due consideration must be given to the critical issue of securing predictable, sustainable and adequate funding for Union peacekeeping missions authorized by the Security Council. Mutual respect, African ownership, consultative decision-making, division of labour, and sharing of responsibilities were the principles and foundation of any successful and productive partnership, especially in the area of peacekeeping.

YOSHIFUMI OKAMURA (Japan) said that political mediation efforts and peacekeeping operations in Africa could best succeed when they were conducted in ways that were respectful of African culture and traditions. Therefore, Japan highly commended Africa’s ownership in the field of peace and security. While the primary responsibility to secure financial resources for African Union peace operations lay with the Union itself, the United Nations must continue to engage in that to ensure predictability, sustainability and flexibility. The option of a multi-donor trust fund, as recommended by the Prodi Panel, should be considered carefully in the light of whether it could be operated under appropriate oversight. Japan looked forward to the early operationalization of the African Standby Force and, as a “proactive contributor to peace”, his country would continue to support Africa’s efforts through capacity-building and development assistance.

TIM MAWE (Ireland), associating with the European Union, said his country looked forward to the “lessons learned” exercise requested by the July resolution affirming the critical role of regional cooperation in international peacekeeping and security. Welcoming the establishment of the high-level panel to review peace operations, he stressed the need to ensure that civilian protection was at the heart of mandates. He called for more consistent and systematic application of resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent texts, and stressed the need to address the root causes of conflict’s disproportionate effect on women and girls. Peace operations in Africa and elsewhere needed the capabilities to protect civilians as well as participating troops. Issues such as rapid deployment, improved intelligence and performance needed should be addressed and effective command and control arrangements ensured. The African Union and subregional organizations were taking the lead in maintaining peace and security in the continent, but work remained in improving the transition of missions, enhancing their logistical capacity and financing and ensuring complementarity and coherence across operations. He urged a holistic approach to preventing and resolving conflicts that drew on all resources and processes.

HALIT ÇEVIK (Turkey), expressing condolences to Pakistan following the school attack, said asymmetrical threats by non-State armed actors and organized crime groups showed the evolving dynamics of international peace and security. Coupled with the United Nations administrative budgetary challenges, partnerships with regional and subregional organizations were all the more important. Turkey provided funds and personnel to the United Nations Support Office for AMISOM (UNSOA), UNAMID, MINUSMA and others. The United Nations-African Union partnership should expand to include such areas as institutional capacity-building, security sector reform and civilian protection. The partnership between the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) and the African Union Support to Ebola Outbreak (ASEOWA) could be an example for responding to similar crises. Noting that humanitarian diplomacy was a goal of Turkey’s foreign policy, he said his Government was keen to share its humanitarian and development experience.

GHOLAMHOSSEIN DEHGHANI (Iran), speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, reiterated the principle that establishment of any peacekeeping operation or extension of any mandate should strictly observe the purposes and principles of the Charter, respect the consent of parties, ensure non-use of force except in self-defence and guarantee impartiality. Respect for the principles of sovereign equality, political independence, territorial integrity of all States and non-intervention in matters that were essentially within their domestic jurisdiction must be upheld.

He expressed the Movement’s support for continuing efforts to strengthen African peacekeeping capabilities and emphasized the importance of implementing the 10-year plan for capacity-building and joint action plan for United Nations support to the African Union peacekeeping in all relevant areas. The Movement recommended enhancing an effective partnership between the United Nations and the Union in order to improve planning, deployment and management of African missions.

KAMAPRADIPTA ISNOMO (Indonesia), associating with the Non-Aligned Movement, stated that regional organizations were well-positioned to understand the root causes of conflicts close to home, and as a founding member of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia had vigorously promoted such cooperation. His country also supported enhanced cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union, in whose region most conflicts had occurred. However, that partnership continued to face challenges and his country, therefore, welcomed today’s presidential statement, which reiterated the importance of establishing a more effective relationship. Indonesia agreed that pre-deployment joint planning and joint mission assessment should be enhanced. Mutual trust and confidence were as vital as a legal foundation, and helped to guarantee effective collaboration.

KAREL JAN GUSTAAF VAN OOSTEROM (Netherlands) said that most of his country’s military, policy and civil experts worldwide were deployed in missions in Africa. Regional and subregional organizations were well-positioned to address peace and security threats because they understood the root causes of armed conflicts. The African Union was rapidly developing into a stronger and more effective organization. Recent interventions by the Union and its regional economic communities, such as those in Mali and the Central African Republic, had illustrated its readiness and determination to deploy forces rapidly and implement its mandate. Its missions were increasingly deployed ahead of United Nations operations. Further, the African Peace and Security Architecture contained several important instruments of prevention, early action and post-conflict reconstruction. His country also welcomed initiatives by the Union in transparent governance and respect for human rights.

FRANTIŠEK RUŽIČKA (Slovakia), associating with the European Union, said that seldom did one country or a single organization have the ability to support and develop all peace instruments and security mechanisms. The direct experience from many United Nations and African Union peace missions clearly showed that a national-led and inclusive security-sector reform process could progressively deal with the root causes of insecurity and fragility and create an enabling environment for sustainable development. Slovakia had long sought to strengthen working partnerships between the United Nations, African Union, European Union, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Such dialogues could help create synergy and prevent fragmentation of efforts. Noting the central role of the United Nations in all global peace and security issues, he concluded by affirming Slovakia’s support for building effective partnerships between the United Nations and the African Union as well as other subregional organizations.

PENDAPALA ANDREAS NAANDA (Namibia), associating with the Non-Aligned Movement, said the surge in peacekeeping had strained the United Nations resources and capacity due to various quantitative and qualitative changes in the operations. The importance of the partnership between the United Nations, regional and subregional organizations could be traced to the timely intervention of the African Union in conflicts in the continent. The United Nations had extensive experience in peacekeeping best practices, which were central to its partnership with regional and subregional organizations. Respective roles should be based on comparative advantages, and the Council should engage more with regional organizations to enable them to enhance international peace and security. Namibia understood the comparative advantage that regional organizations could bring to conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding and fully subscribed to the complementarity of roles.

KAIRAT ABDRAKHMANOV (Kazakhstan) stated that the United Nations, together with the African Union, needed to develop a policy framework on transitional justice, especially on the issue of impunity and its relationship to peace, justice, reconciliation, and healing. Coordination between the two organizations was important in order to avoid duplication or rivalry. His delegation proposed that the United Nations assistance to the African Union, under the Ten-Year Capacity-Building Programme, ending in 2015, should continue to cover the areas of peace and security, capacity-building for mediation, democracy and electoral assistance, and support for the Union’s Peace and Security Council. Welcoming the solemn declaration by African leaders on the occasion of the Union’s fiftieth anniversary to “end all wars in Africa by 2020”, he noted his country’s establishment of an embassy in Addis Ababa. Kazakhstan was committed to developing mutual cooperation with the African Union.

EMILIA GATTO (Italy), aligning her delegation with the European Union Delegation, welcomed the efforts of the African Union to implement “African solutions to African problems.” Her country had supported the endeavours of the African Union, politically and financially, through the European Union framework as well as bilaterally. Italy had also contributed financially to the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel. Expressing support for the synergies between the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, in stabilizing the Horn of Africa region, she said that her country hoped that the Peace Operations Review recently launched by the Secretary-General would provide some innovative and much-needed food for thought. The reality on the ground showed the need for an update of the United Nations Peace and Security Architecture. A holistic approach that took into account all the different phases of conflict was very necessary.

TEKEDA ALEMU (Ethiopia) said that there was a growing recognition that new and emerging challenges confronting Africa could not be addressed through the prism of traditional peacekeeping doctrine alone. The African Union and the United Nations needed to adopt innovative and flexible approaches based on the principles of complementarity and comparative advantages. The Hybrid Mission in Darfur and the African Union Mission in Somalia were good examples of that. Turning to the challenge of financial and logistical support, he underscored that it was time to find a lasting solution instead of the usual ad hoc arrangements. The United Nations must scale up its support to the African Union through the provision of comprehensive and multidimensional support to African Union peace operations. In the light of the complex challenges confronting the world and opportunities available for even greater cooperation, the strategic partnership between the two organizations must be enhanced.

KINTU NYAGO (Uganda) said the debate was an important way of placing a largely marginalized continent at the centre of the Security Council. Subregional organizations were well-grounded in local realities and hence were more appropriate in the resolution of conflicts. When Uganda was a member of the Council in 2009-2010, it had joined hands with other members to ensure adequate logistical support to the African Union Mission in Somalia, including hospitals and rations for troops. Conditions that caused conflicts, such as landlockedness, required to be adequately addressed, he said, adding that Africa had a disproportionate number of such States that were extremely underdeveloped. Conflict in that context did not exist by bad luck.

RIADH BEN SLIMAN (Tunisia) stated that, given the spread of crises and the multifaceted nature of threats in Africa, he welcomed increasing partnerships between the United Nations and the African Union. That showed a greater commitment to meet the challenges together. The experience of cooperation between the two organizations showed the wisdom and foresight demonstrated by those who had drafted the Charter. Chapter 8 of the Charter had proved essential to preserving international peace and security by giving weight to the role of regional and subregional organizations. Also welcoming the leading role played by the African Union in establishing the Peace and Security Architecture, he noted that 50 per cent of today’s peacekeeping operations and 70 per cent of the peacekeeping budget was allocated to Africa. The new cooperation mechanism had contributed to defining a common approach to meet the complex needs of the continent. His country looked forward to the Secretary-General’s review of peacekeeping operations and the evaluation report about partnerships with regional and subregional organizations, which was due in March 2015. As a troop-contributing country to various missions in Africa, Tunisia welcomed these initiatives and called on the international community to learn from the lessons taught by various peacekeeping missions.

Presidential Statement

The full text of the presidential statement to be issued as document S/PRST/2014/27 reads as follows:

“The Security Council recalls its previous relevant resolutions and statements of its President which underscore the importance of developing effective partnerships between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant statutes of the regional and subregional organizations.

“The Security Council recalls the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and reaffirms its primary responsibility under the Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security.

“The Security Council welcomes the briefing of the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon and that of the African Union High Representative for Mali and the Sahel (MISAHEL), Former President Pierre Buyoya.

“The Security Council acknowledges the progress made in the ongoing cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union, and stresses the importance of further strengthening cooperation and developing effective partnership with the African Union Peace and Security Council consistent with Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter, to address common collective security challenges in Africa.

“The Security Council reiterates that cooperation with regional and subregional organizations in matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security and consistent with Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations, can improve collective security.

“The Security Council recognizes that regional organizations are well positioned to understand the root causes of armed conflicts owing to their knowledge of the region which can be a benefit for their efforts to influence the prevention or resolution of these conflicts.

“The Security Council acknowledges the role of the African Union in efforts to prevent or settle conflicts in the African continent and expresses its support for the African Union’s continued efforts to promote peace initiatives conducted by the African Union, and similar initiatives of subregional organizations.

“The Security Council commends the African Union’s increased contribution to the maintenance of peace and security including peacekeeping in particular in Sudan (Darfur), Mali, CAR and Somalia, as well as the African Union Regional Task Force (AU-RTF), and efforts to further strengthen its capacity, including through the operationalization of both its African Standby Force (ASF) and its Rapid Deployment Capability (RDC), and welcomes the UN-AU continued cooperation on different components of the African Peace and Security Architecture, including on early warning, preventive diplomacy, mediation, electoral assistance, peacekeeping, conflict prevention and resolution, promotion of human rights and the rule of law, and post-conflict recovery and reconstruction.

“The Security Council welcomes the African Union decision to declare ‘2014-2024 as the Madiba Nelson Mandela decade of reconciliation in Africa and to take appropriate measures to promote reconciliation as means of securing peace, stability and development in Africa, as well as to also take appropriate steps in collaboration with its Member States to promote the lessons learned from his indelible legacy in the areas of truth, reconciliation and peace building.

“The Security Council welcomes the efforts undertaken by the AU to end impunity and ensure accountability, including by strengthening national justice institutions.

“The Security Council stresses the importance of further strengthening cooperation with the African Union in order to assist building its capacity to deal with common collective security challenges in Africa, including through the African Union’s commitment of rapid and appropriate responses to emerging crises situations, and the development of effective strategies for conflict prevention and resolution, peacekeeping and peacebuilding.

“The Security Council reiterates that regional organizations have the responsibility to secure human, financial, logistical and other resources for their organizations, including through contributions by their members and support from partners and welcomes the valuable financial support provided from partners in this regard.

“The Security Council recognizes that one major constraint facing the African Union, in effectively carrying out the mandates of maintaining regional peace and security is securing predictable, sustainable and flexible resources.

“The Security Council encourages closer coordination and cooperation on policing issues between the United Nations Secretariat and international, regional and subregional organizations, including through training, the sharing and exchange of knowledge, thematic expertise and operational support as appropriate.

“The Security Council recognizes the role that the AU can play in the protection of civilians, and in particular women and children affected by armed conflict, as well as in the prevention of and response to sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflicts and post-conflict situations and supports the critical role that women play in all peace and security efforts, including those to prevent and resolve conflict and mitigate its impact.

“The Security Council welcomes the United Nations partnership in the field of peacekeeping, including support to the African Union’s efforts to develop policy, guidance and training in particular in the areas of security sector reform, post-conflict reconstruction, women, peace and security and the protection of civilians including child protection and the prevention of and response to sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflicts and post-conflict situations.

“The Security Council recognizes the valuable contribution of relevant regional and subregional organizations and arrangements for the protection of children affected by armed conflict and commends in this regard the declaration signed on 17 September 2013 between the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and the Peace and Security Department of the African Union Commission, in order to mainstream protection mechanisms in all peace and security activities of the African Union, in close partnership with UNICEF.

“The Security Council encourages in this regard the African Union Commission to help address the widespread impact of armed conflict on children, invites it to continue the mainstreaming of child protection into its advocacy, policies, programmes and mission planning, the development and expansion of guidelines to protect children affected by armed conflict as well as the training of personnel and the inclusion of child protection staff in its peacekeeping and field operations, and reiterates its call for the establishment of child protection mechanisms within its secretariat, including through the appointment of child protection focal points.

“The Security Council urges Member States and relevant international organizations to contribute to strengthening the capacity of the African Union and its subregional organizations, in conflict prevention and crisis management, and in post-conflict stabilization, including through the provision of human, technical and financial assistance.

“The Security Council reiterates the importance of establishing a more effective relationship between the Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council including through achieving more effective annual consultative meetings, the holding of timely consultations, and collaborative field missions of the two Councils, as appropriate, to formulate cohesive positions and strategies on a case-by-case basis in dealing with conflict situations in Africa.

“The Security Council calls for the strengthening of cooperation between the United Nations Secretariat and the Commission of the African Union including in the area of mediation efforts, and underscores the importance of developing the follow-up programme to the 2006 United Nations- African Union Ten-year Capacity-Building Programme; as an important contribution towards conflict prevention, management and resolution on the African Continent. In this regard, the Security Council welcomes the United Nations African Union joint decision during the 15th Session of the Regional Coordination Mechanism for Africa (RCM) in Abuja in March 2014 to establish a working group to start formulating a successor programme that will also reflect the support of the United Nations to Agenda 2063.

“The Security Council welcomes the appointment of the High-Level Panel to review peace operations, and invites this Panel to consult closely with the African Union.

“The Security Council welcomes regular interaction between the United Nations Secretariat and the African Union Commission, through the United Nations-African Union Joint Task Force on Peace and Security, and encourages the Task Force to continue to focus on strategic and country-specific issues of the African continent that are of interest to both organizations and requests that the Task Force consider ways to enhance United Nations and African Union cooperation on conflict prevention in Africa and that it provides updates to the Security Council subsequent to its meetings.

“The Security Council commends the transfer of authority from the African-led International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA) to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) on 15 September 2014 and welcomes the ongoing lessons learned exercise on the transitions from AU to UN peacekeeping operations in Mali and the Central African Republic, pursuant to operative paragraph 13 of resolution 2167 (2014) and looks forward to concrete recommendations from this lessons learned exercise, which would seek to strengthen the management of transitions from AU to UN peacekeeping missions.

“The Security Council stresses the importance of supporting the political role of the AU, both during the transition from AU to UN peacekeeping missions, as well as in the formulation and implementation of governance and other reforms to be carried out in addressing the root causes of conflict in Africa.

“The Security Council encourages the United Nations and the African Union to take concrete steps to strengthen their relationships and develop a more effective partnership when addressing issues of mutual interest and underscores the need to enhance the United Nations and African Union pre-deployment joint planning and joint mission assessment processes to promote common understanding and increase effectiveness of peacekeeping missions.

“The Security Council calls on the Secretary-General to coordinate with and support the African Union Commission in its development of a list of needed capacities and recommendations on ways the African Union can further develop its military, civilian, police, technical, logistic and administrative capabilities, welcomes the practice of staff exchanges, especially between the UN and AU and encourages its continuity particularly the staff in the financial and logistical areas, and further encourages the African Union to identify its priorities in personnel training, particularly in those areas dealing with financial, logistic and administrative matters.

“The Security Council notes the progress in the level and process of preparation for the 8th Joint Consultative meeting of the UNSC and AUPSC on 6 June 2014 in New York, including, the finalization in advance of the agenda for the annual consultative meeting, joint press briefing by the President of the UNSC and the Chairperson of the AUPSC (African Union Peace and Security Council) and recommends that next year’s 9th Consultative meeting scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa in 2015 address the issue of follow-up and implementation of previous communiqués.

“The Security Council welcomes the adoption of the 50th Anniversary Solemn Declaration by African leaders in May 2013, pledging ‘to end all wars in Africa by 2020’ and ‘achieve the goal of a conflict-free Africa’; expresses its readiness to contribute and calls on all, in particular relevant United Nations entities to help achieve this goal including by considering defining a concrete five-year actionable plan in support of the goal of achieving a conflict-free Africa by 2020. The Security Council notes in that regard that instability and violence in CAR, DRC, Libya, the Sahel, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan need to be addressed and resolved as a matter of urgency.

“The Security Council recognizes the important role of the good offices of the Secretary-General in Africa, and encourages the Secretary-General to continue to use mediation as often as possible to help resolve conflicts peacefully, working in coordination and closely with the African Union and its subregional organizations in that regard, as appropriate.

“The Security Council takes note of the election of the new 5 members of the African Union Panel of the Wise and acknowledges the key preventive role that the Panel can play and calls for increased political support to it in the implementation of its mandate, and encourages the Panel’s early engagement in deteriorating situations at risk of conflict.

“The Security Council stresses the importance of strengthened AU and UN capacities for early warning, conflict analysis, dialogue and mediation and increased AU-UN collaboration in the area of good offices and between UN-AU Envoys. The Security Council underscores the need to allocate resources to support and strengthen the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS), the good offices role of Special Envoys and Representatives, as well as post-conflict reconstruction and development efforts, including through the African Solidarity Initiative.

“The Security Council stresses the importance of a coordinated international response to causes of conflict and recognizes the need for the development of effective long-term strategies and emphasizes the need for all United Nations organs and agencies to pursue preventive strategies and to take action within their respective areas of competence to assist Member States and regional and subregional organizations to eradicate poverty, strengthen development cooperation and assistance and promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

“The Security Council welcomes recent developments regarding cooperation between the United Nations, the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU), including the contribution of the EU to the enhancement of African Union capacities; and further encourages regional and subregional organizations to strengthen and increase cooperation among them, including efforts to enhance their respective capacities, in the maintenance of international peace and security.

“The Security Council reaffirms its previous resolutions and statements by its President regarding the Prodi Report, including S/PRST/2010/21, S/PRST/2009/26, and S/PRST/2013/12 as well as resolutions 1809 (2008), 1863 (2009), 2033 (2012), 2086 (2013) and 2167 (2014).

“The Security Council stresses the need to secure more financial resources from within the African continent, without prejudice to the support from the United Nations and other partners.

“The Security Council reiterates its resolve to give peacekeeping operations clear, credible and achievable mandates matched by appropriate resources.

“The Security Council stresses the need to enhance the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing regional organizations, when they undertake peacekeeping under a Security Council mandate, and recognize the benefit of joint planning missions and assessment visits in determining the needs of regional peace support operations.

“The Security Council welcomes the renewed efforts of the African Union for the full operationalization of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), and looks forward to the finalization of the ongoing APSA assessment report, as well as to the successful conduct in 2015 of the Amani Africa II Exercise, which will validate the full operational capability of the African Standby Force (ASF).

“The Security Council welcomes the steps taken for the operationalization of the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC), including through enhanced decision-making to facilitate rapid deployment.

“The Security Council stresses the importance for the United Nations of developing African Union and its subregional organizations’ ability to deploy peacekeeping forces rapidly in support of United Nations peacekeeping operations or other Security Council- mandated operations, and welcomes recent initiatives taken in this regard by the AU.

“The Security Council takes note of the commitments made by the European Union and Africa in the EU-Africa Summit held in Brussels in April 2014 to strengthen the operationalization of the African Peace and Security Architecture, in particular by supporting the African Standby Force (ASF) and its Rapid Deployment Capacity (RDC), supported and managed in a sustainable way, as reaffirmed by the European Union Political and Security Committee and the African Union Peace and Security Council in Brussels on 15 May 2014. The Security Council further encourages initiatives aiming at creating more synergies between the AU, EU and UN in this endeavor, and further takes note of close cooperation between the EU and AU, with the relevant regional and sub-regional organizations, the UN and its agencies, and with other international coordination mechanisms. . The Security Council commends all the efforts already achieved by the EU to this end and further welcomes the expressed intention by the EU to allocate increased funding, including through the African Peace Facility.

“The Security Council further takes note of the first AU-China Strategic Dialogue for Peace and Security in Africa, launched in October 2014, which considers further cooperation measures in peace and security area, including supporting the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC).

“The Security Council further takes note of the first U.S. Africa Leaders’ Summit and welcomes the announcement of the African Peacekeeping Rapid Response Partnership, which seeks to strengthen the capabilities of African countries to rapidly deploy peacekeepers in response to emerging conflict.

“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to present an annual report to the Security Council on ways to strengthen the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union on issues of peace and security in Africa including the work of the UNOAU.”

For information media. Not an official record.