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Image: courtesy of the UN News Centre
The United Nations and the African Union recently signed a new landmark framework to strengthen the partnership between the two organizations on peace and security pillars and better respond to the changing dimensions and evolving challenges of peace operations.
This follows the crisis situations in some African states causing great havoc in the region.
The event took place in New York, the United States of America. The framework was signed by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the Chairperson of the African Union, Moussa Faki Mahamat.
Guterres while addressing the media alongside Mahamat stated that;
“We no longer have the traditional peacekeeping operations, where peacekeepers separate two countries or two groups within the same country that have signed an agreement, and a makeshift peace essentially prevails,”
“We are witnessing, in Africa, as around the world, changes that force us to have a strategic review of the way peace operations take place,” remarked Guterres alongside Mr. Mahamat, after signing the framework at UN Headquarters in New York.
Mr. Guterres further stated that the Joint UN-AU Framework for Enhancing Partnership on Peace and Security is expected to boost the coordination between the two organizations at all levels.
It is also anticipated to strengthen cooperation on issues ranging from human rights and good governance to sustainable and inclusive development.
According to him, the new understanding will also help align the African Union’s Agenda 2063 with the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to ensure that they are both a “success story” in the continent.
Mr. Guterres and Mr. Mahamat jointly led the first Joint UN-AU Annual Conference where they discussed the complementarity between the 2030 Agenda and the AU’s Agenda 2063, as well as the fight against terrorism and the financing of operations led by the AU.
They pointed out current crisis situations in some African countries, including Libya, Mali, the Central African Republic, and Somalia, and discussed efforts to combat the activities of the Boko Haram terrorist group.
