He warned that “concerns about the number and complexity of conflicts persist in some parts of the continent.”
He said these conflicts were often aggravated by “weak or ineffective state authority, violent extremism leading to terrorist activities, inequitable management of natural resources, organized crime, the impact of climate change, acute food insecurity and, in some cases, the denial of fundamental human rights.”
Conflicts in the Horn of Africa, Sudan, South Sudan and the Great Lakes region – including the Democratic Republic of the Congo – have led to widespread displacement and multiple humanitarian emergencies.
Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Horn of Africa, briefs the Security Council meeting on the maintenance of international peace and security.
“No military solution can resolve the underlying causes of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or elsewhere in Africa,” Onanga-Anyanga said. “I call on this Council to continue to leverage its influence to achieve a peaceful resolution of the outstanding issues between the parties.”
The Special Representative highlighted two critical conflict-related issues to Council members: climate change as a conflict multiplier and the challenges faced by women and girls in battle-scarred regions, noting the ongoing side effects of climate-induced insecurity in all of these crises.
Unprecedented wave of threats
Speaking on behalf of the AU, Ambassador Mohamed Fathi Ahmed Edrees told the Council that
“Africa is facing an unprecedented wave of threats to its security,” adding that “solutions are needed to achieve greater stability.”
The UN and AU have long collaborated on issues affecting the continent and, according to the UN’s Onanga-Anyanga, “significant progress has been made, particularly in supporting recent free, fair and credible elections across the continent: in Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius and, most recently, Malawi, where a new president was sworn in last week.”
Onanga-Anyanga said building consensus was more important than ever.
“The strong and enduring partnership between the United Nations and the African Union, as well as other regional organizations, forms the basis of effective and networked multilateralism, essential to addressing today’s complex, evolving and interconnected threats to peace, security, development and human rights, particularly in Africa,” he said.
Respond to armed conflict
In December 2023, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to enhance cooperation between the UN and the AU.
Addressing the Council, Martha Pobee, UN Under-Secretary-General with a report focusing on Africa, said resolution (2719) was conceived “as a means to address a long-standing gap in the peace and security architecture of the African Union to better respond to armed conflicts on the African continent, with the support of the international community in general, and this Council in particular.”
Work continues on the implementation of the resolution in four key lines of work and some progress has been reported.
Joint planning modalities for AU-led peace support operations were approved in September, establishing a shared decision-making framework.
Mission support planning was also finalized to ensure coherent field operations.
Earlier this year, the UN outlined financial rules for AU-led missions, now under legislative review.
Progress was also made in compliance and protection of civilians, including strengthening accountability mechanisms and developing gender-responsive policies.
The efforts “seek to ensure that our collaboration is based on both strategic vision and operational practicality,” Ms. Pobee said.