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Summary

In the present report, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 71/315, progress made since the submission of the report of the Secretary-General on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa (A/65/152-S/2010/526) is reviewed.

The present report covers the period from July 2016 to June 2017 and highlights major developments regarding peace and security and its interlinkage with sustainable development in Africa. Progress made by the United Nations system in implementing key priority areas identified in the review report is examined, as well as the support the Organization has been providing in the implementation of peace and security priorities contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063 of the African Union.

Consistent with the mandate of resolution 71/315 to develop policy proposals on persistent and emerging challenges confronting Africa, the role of regional organizations and their regional and international partners in sustaining peace in Africa, including the United Nations, as reflected in the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, signed in April 2017, is discussed in the present report. The importance of conflict prevention and the critical need to address the root causes of conflict in order to achieve sustainable peace are also highlighted. It is recommended, among other things, that the international community, including the United Nations, further strengthen political, substantive, institutional and financial cooperation with African regional and subregional organizations as first responders to conflicts on the African continent in their quest to sustain peace.

I. Introduction

1. In 1998, following a request from the Security Council (S/PRST/1997/46), the Secretary-General undertook a comprehensive analysis of the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa. In the subsequent report, he proposed specific measures to prevent, mitigate and reduce conflict, achieve peace and promote sustainable development on the African continent (see A/52/871-S/1998/318).

2. In its resolution 63/304, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to submit a report reviewing the status of implementation of the recommendations contained in the 1998 report. Following broad-based consultations coordinated by the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, including with the United Nations system through the Interdepartmental Task Force on African Affairs, the Secretary-General submitted to the Assembly a review report (A/65/152-S/2010/526) outlining progress, recommendations and proposals for a renewed engagement with Africa.

3. In that report, it was highlighted that the United Nations system must establish the appropriate partnerships to enhance the capacity of African regional organizations as leading actors in the areas of peace and development on the continent. The African Union, in the solemn declaration adopted in 2013 on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary, pledged not to bequeath the burden of conflicts to the next generation of Africans, and has been implementing the African Peace and Security Architecture. Furthermore, the concept of sustaining peace, including conflict prevention and post-conflict recovery, introduced in the report of the Advisory Group of Experts on the Review of the Peacebuilding Architecture (A/69/968-S/2015/490), confirms the interdependence of durable peace and sustainable development and the importance of promoting both sustaining peace and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

4. Against that background, the present report, prepared in consultation with the Interdepartmental Task Force on African Affairs, chaired by the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, provides an update on major peace and security developments in Africa (section II) and takes stock of key actions and initiatives undertaken by the United Nations from July 2016 to June 2017 to implement the recommendations of the review report (section III). The role of regional and subregional organizations in sustaining peace in Africa (section IV), as well as recommendations to enhance their role and their partnership with the international community, including the United Nations (section V), are also discussed in the present report.