S/PV.6206 Security Council

In accordance with the understanding reached in the Council’s prior consultations, I shall take it that the Security Council agrees to extend an invitation under rule 39 of its provisional rules of procedure to His Excellency Mr. Romano Prodi. It is so decided. I invite Mr. Prodi to take a seat at the Council table. In accordance with the understanding reached in the Council’s prior consultations, I shall take it that the Security Council agrees to extend an invitation under rule 39 of its provisional rules of procedure to Mr. Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. It is so decided. I invite Mr. Le Roy to take a seat at the Council table. In accordance with the understanding reached in the Council’s prior consultations, I shall take it that the Security Council agrees to extend an invitation under rule 39 of its provisional rules of procedure to Ms. Susana Malcorra, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support. It is so decided. I invite Ms. Malcorra to take a seat at the Council table. In accordance with the understanding reached in the Council’s prior consultations, I shall take it that the Security Council agrees to extend an invitation under rule 39 of its provisional rules of procedure to the Acting Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations, His Excellency Mr. Tete Antonio. It is so decided. I invite Mr. Antonio to take a seat at the Council table. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. I wish to draw the attention of members of the Council to document S/2009/470, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on support to African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations. At this meeting, the Security Council will hear a briefing by Mr. Alain Le Roy. I now give the floor to Mr. Le Roy.

I have the honour of addressing the Security Council on behalf of the Secretary-General to outline the stages that will enable the strengthening of the capacities of the African Union (AU) to maintain peace and security and enhance relations between the United Nations and the African Union. The presence of Ms. Susana Malcorra, Under- Secretary-General for Field Support, underscores the importance that the Secretariat gives to this issue and our will to work together on it. The report presented today (S/2009/470) sets out the assessment made by the Secretary-General of the recommendations included in the report of the African Union-United Nations panel established under Security Council resolution 1809 (2008) to consider the modalities for support to African Union peacekeeping operations. The Secretary-General’s report builds on the recommendations made by the panel, under its Chairman Mr. Prodi, and underscores some points on which the Secretariat should take immediate steps to strengthen its cooperation with the African Union Commission. This will require, on the one hand, restructuring our presence in Addis Ababa and, on the other, of course, strengthening the institutional capacities of the African Union in the areas identified by the panel. The report also considers the financing mechanisms of African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the Security Council and emphasizes the importance of sustainable, flexible and predictable funding. I believe that those three adjectives — sustainable, flexible and predictable — are very important with regard to the financing mechanisms. Last year’s debate on regional organizations enabled the Security Council to reaffirm the importance of the strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union, under Chapter VIII of the Charter. We share the belief that security is prerequisite to sustainable development. That is particularly true in Africa, where instability and conflicts continue to undermine the aspirations of peoples in many countries. The international community must work together in order to build the capacity of vulnerable nations to prevent and resolve conflicts through political solutions. When a peacekeeping operation is necessary, we must ensure ongoing support to those who are carrying it out — usually the Blue Helmets — once their deployment is authorized. The emergence of new threats to peace and security makes the environment in which peacekeeping operations are deployed increasingly complex. That further underpins the need to deploy robust and credible peacekeeping missions. In that context, the enhanced role of African Union peacekeeping operations and of African regional economic communities is a major and welcome development. Their troops have been able to deploy quickly with limited resources and when the situation on the ground has needed a robust intervention. The African Union has assumed its responsibilities in complex political environments, with the authorization of the Security Council, when it has had a comparative advantage over a United Nations peacekeeping operation or when more time was needed to establish a consensus within the international community on the preferred course of action. The African Union has developed its peacekeeping capacity based on the commendable principle that the continent should have its own means to act to prevent conflicts and the resulting suffering. If the international community really wishes to help it to achieve that objective, it must more actively support the strengthening of African peacekeeping capacity. That entails in particular helping to train each African troop contributor, contributing financially to peacekeeping operations and demonstrating the political will necessary to resolve conflicts. We must set ourselves realistic goals and priorities and make every effort necessary to ensure that the men and women deployed in conflict areas are equipped with the means required to achieve those goals. Over the past five years, considerable progress has been achieved. The United Nations has broadened and deepened its strategic and operational partnership with the African Union. The 10-year capacity building programme, which is designed to provide support to the African Union Peace and Security Architecture, has laid the groundwork for this partnership, especially in the areas of conflict prevention and post-conflict recovery. At the same time, our joint efforts in peacekeeping and mediation in Darfur and our support for the African Union’s peacekeeping operation in Somalia are further reminders of the scope and shape of the various types of partnership that can be achieved in an effort to address the peace and security challenges on the African continent. Serious capacity and resource constraints have, however, hampered the partnership’s ability to fully realize its potential. (spoke in English) The United Nations has worked closely with the African Union and its partners to determine the best way to ensure that capacity-building is targeted and effective. There is a broad consensus that, as a first priority in the effort to build conflict prevention and peacekeeping capacity, the African Union should finalize and recruit the core staff required for the Commission to support the African Peace and Security Architecture. At the same time, it is critical that the African Union define its own priority requirements and develop a comprehensive road map for long-term capacity-building that will build on its strategic framework and provide the framework for donor support. This will help to ensure that capacity-building is demand driven and not imposed externally. This is extremely important to ensure African Union leadership and ownership of the process. Limited capacity is not our only challenge. As has been noted by this Council and the General Assembly, there is a need to provide resources for peacekeeping in a sustainable and predictable manner without undermining the flexibility required to respond to a crisis quickly. Currently, African Union peacekeeping is entirely dependent on the same small pool of donors. There is little flexibility, sustainability or predictability in its stream of resources. The lack of certainty as to when donations will be made impacts the AU’s ability to plan missions and pay troop-contributing countries. Reliance on unpredictable sources of funding means that there is no guarantee that essential capabilities will be available, which in turn may invalidate planning assumptions and put a mission at the risk of failure. If the international community requests the AU to bear the brunt of its initial response to a crisis, it has an obligation to support the AU in ensuring that that response is credible. In this regard, the report of the Secretary-General examines the various financing mechanisms which have been used in the past to ensure effective financing of AU peacekeeping. It also proposes ways in which each mechanism could be improved in order to allow for resources to be more predictable, sustainable and flexible. Building on the experience of the United Nations support packages to the African Union missions in the Sudan and Somalia, which were financed by assessed contributions and the European Union Africa Peace Facility, the international community must work together to find creative solutions and ensure that the most effective mechanism is made available to the African Union when the Security Council authorizes it to undertake a peacekeeping operation. Ultimately and as emphasized in the Secretary- General’s report, it is the African Union’s member States’ responsibility to identify sustainable resources for the long term. To this end, we are very encouraged by the African Union Assembly’s decision to increase the portion of funds — from 6 to 12 per cent — contributed to peace support operations from its regular budget. At the same time, it is important to recall that peacekeeping is no replacement for a political solution and that peacekeeping operations are most effective when deployed in support of a peace agreement. Efforts continue, in parallel, to enhance and support preventive diplomacy, early warning and conflict resolution and mediation. Experience teaches us that peacekeeping operations should be embarked upon only after careful consideration of all available response options, and must be accompanied by a viable political strategy and a set of clear objectives. In looking forward, the United Nations system is committed to working with the AU in implementing the proposals in this report, especially concerning ways in which to enhance the strategic relationship between the United Nations Secretariat and the AU Commission and to provide additional support to the AU in the area of peacekeeping. We welcome the AU Peace and Security Council’s 15 October statement on the Secretary- General’s report and fully support the emphasis on the need for effective follow-up to implement the proposals made in the report. Of course, this is going to be a long-term process that will require continuous international engagement that is coordinated to ensure that support is prioritized appropriately. Building a resilient and responsive African Union is vital to the establishment of an effective and complementary system for global peacekeeping. I am confident that the Council’s meeting today will contribute to that goal. In closing, we would like once again to thank former Prime Minister of Italy Romano Prodi, who is with us here today, for his leadership of the AU-United Nations panel. Its efforts have been a significant step forward in a process which will advance our collective peace and security objectives. We would also like to thank the African Union Commission, including Chairperson Jean Ping and our dear friend Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra, for their continued commitment and contribution to enhancing peace and security in Africa.

I thank Mr. Le Roy for his briefing. I now give the floor to Mr. Tete Antonio, Acting Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations.

At the outset, I extend to you, Sir, the appreciation of Chairperson Jean Ping, who has been unable to travel but is closely following the Security Council’s work in support of the African Union. I congratulate you, Sir, on behalf of the African Union on your assumption of the presidency of the Council. I join the previous speaker in thanking you for having convened this open debate. We also thank Under-Secretary-General Alain Le Roy for introducing the Secretary-General’s report (S/2009/470) and for the support he has reaffirmed for the African Union. We are, moreover, honoured by the presence of Mr. Romano Prodi, whom we thank for his tireless dedication to the noble causes of Africa. We also thank all the members of the African Union- United Nations panel who have worked under Mr. Prodi’s leadership to bring us together here to focus on the cause of Africa. The role of such regional organizations as the African Union in the maintenance of international peace and security has been the subject of the heightened interest and in-depth consideration of the Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council and Assembly of Heads of State and Government. At the same time, the Security Council’s primary Charter responsibility in the maintenance of international peace and security has been amply reaffirmed by the Council itself and other stakeholders. Against that backdrop, funding for peacekeeping operations conducted by regional organizations remains a central concern of the African Union on the basis of its experience in various activities to promote peace and security on the continent. The pertinent issues addressed in the relevant documents of the United Nations and the African Union include the nature of the structure of the partnership between the United Nations and regional organizations; inter- institutional coordination and consultation mechanisms; the enhancement of resources to strengthen the capacities of the peacekeeping and peace-support operations of regional organizations; conflict prevention and mediation; support for peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction; human rights and humanitarian activities. Those are topics at the heart of the problems plaguing the African continent. While pursuing our reflections on this matter, we have simultaneously experimented with practical and innovative approaches in order to respond to pressing needs on the ground. Here I must mention the initial and heavy support packages authorized by the Security Council for the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) as well as the ongoing support for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Mention should also be made of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), which is further evidence of the innovative approaches taken by the African Union and the United Nations to addressing the peace and security challenges on the African continent. We believe that the combination of reflection and pragmatism has significantly enhanced our understanding of how great a need there is to establish predictable and sustainable funding mechanisms for peace support operations conducted by regional organizations such as the African Union, with the authorization of the Security Council, of course. In this respect, it is clear that the most viable option is to make use of United Nations assessed contributions. We are convinced that obtaining predictable, sustainable and flexible funding for regional organizations such as the African Union through assessed contributions would also enable the Security Council to utilize local comparative advantages in its efforts to tackle, in a continuous way, the threats to international peace and security that affect us all. Over the past few years, the African Union, with the support of its international partners, has demonstrated a renewed will to shoulder its share of responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The decision to deploy a mission in Somalia, in spite of the volatile security situation prevailing on the ground — with which we are all familiar — and the difficult environment overall, as well as earlier deployments in countries such as Burundi and the Sudan — and thus in Darfur — bear testimony to this determination. I should thus like to recall the decision taken by the special summit of the African Union held in Tripoli, Libya, at the end of August 2009, to increase the percentage of the AU regular budget transferred to the Union’s Peace Fund. Looking to the future, we believe that the Council should, in the next stages of its consideration of this matter, fully utilize the constructive and rich environment created by the combination of reflection, pragmatism and lessons learned, in order to take decisive measures to address the specific issue of the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of funding for regional organizations when they undertake peacekeeping operations under a United Nations mandate, and to do so through assessed contributions. We note the recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General with respect to the strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union, which provide a good basis for strengthening the cooperation between the AU and the United Nations in the area of the maintenance of international peace and security. We also note the recommendations made with respect to capacity- building, and we stress the need for their speedy implementation, bearing in mind ongoing African Union efforts and the need to ensure very close coordination. It must, however, be clear that, in order to address the challenges of peace and security in Africa — something in which we all have a stake — we need not only to enhance the capacity of the African Union, but also to find effective responses to the issue of financing peace support operations. Lest we lose sight of our goal, we must bear in mind that Security Council action on the subject of this debate will strengthen the unflagging confidence that the Governments and populations facing the scourges of conflict and instability place in the Council and in its readiness to help them restore lasting peace and security. I therefore seize this opportunity to reaffirm the commitment of the African Union to continue working with the Council, Member States and all international partners in pursuing and achieving this common goal.

I thank Mr. Antonio for his statement. I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Romano Prodi. Mr. Prodi: I am very grateful to be here and grateful that I have been asked to say a few words even if that had not been planned; I take this as a great sign of respect and gratitude for the work that the African Union-United Nations panel on modalities for support to African Union operations has done. At the outset, I should like to thank all the members of the panel for their efforts and the results that they achieved. I am deeply grateful for the quality of the individual contributions that all members of the panel made and for the intense work of the United Nations staff. Mr. Le Roy has already presented the main results to the Council, and I do not want to repeat them. I should like simply to speak of one simple concept. Peacekeeping is only one of the great African issues, which include development, health and infrastructure. Our panel found, and it is also my deep conviction, that we cannot continue dealing with Africa in a bilateral way. Looking at the economic aspects, at the peacekeeping aspects and at all the problems of education and health, we simply cannot go on with this country-by-country approach based on individual relationships between wealthy countries and African countries. If we examine the economic aspects, we cannot find any prospects for development unless we approach African countries in their wider context, as a regional and continental union. Inter-African trade is negligible. Inter-African infrastructure is absolutely insufficient. There is an absolute necessity to improve inter-African cooperation for peacekeeping in the continent. I invite all the members of the Security Council, which bears such great responsibility for the future of the world, to consider African peacekeeping in this wider context of relations between other continents and Africa. Clearly, this process related strictly to peacekeeping will require long-term capacity-building, on the basis of ownership and full responsibility by the African Union. In this process, a multilateral approach must be at the top of our priorities in dealing with Africa. That is the point of departure, and it is the conclusion of our panel. I ask, in particular, the countries that have the highest level of responsibility in the world economy, in development and in peacekeeping to analyse the necessity of helping with any major engagement of the African Union and other regional structures, in order to make African development feasible. That is the direction we need to go in. The proposals presented by the panel move towards developing the capacities of the African Union and allowing it to have responsibility for future peace in Africa. To be sure, the objections I hear are logical and understandable. Some say that the existing organization, the African Union, is not strong enough to tackle the problems addressed in the report. I completely agree, but the task before us is to give the African Union the ability to build its strength in the medium and long term. No one thought while writing the report that everything was ready today for full and efficient deployment of peacekeeping efforts. However, if we do not start now, we will never reach our goal. (spoke in French) That is the conclusion reached by our panel. I repeat that the Council will consider all the technical aspects and technical proposals, but the report must be seen in the context of a comprehensive African development plan aiming to provide Africa with all the means it needs for all countries to act collectively and in solidarity to promote development on the continent. (spoke in English) Those are our conclusions. That is our contribution to the discussion today. I repeat: let us now start this long-term effort and work closely with the entire United Nations system in order to coordinate the efforts of all countries in Africa so that Africa can act as a united continent within which cooperation among all countries is indispensable to a better future.

I thank Mr. Prodi for his statement. I shall now give the floor to members of the Council who wish to make statements.

Allow me to begin by commending you, Mr. President, for organizing this meeting on United Nations support to African Union peacekeeping operations. This issue has been on our agenda for some time now, and today’s meeting provides us with a very timely opportunity to review the steps taken so far and to chart the course of our future work. In that regard, I would like to pay a special tribute to the Secretary-General for his leadership on this issue and for his dedicated efforts to further strengthen the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union (AU). His most recent report (S/2009/470), in particular, contains valuable assessments and proposals for the way forward on this issue. I thank Under-Secretary-General Alain Le Roy for his briefing and for focusing our debate on the right issues, and Under-Secretary-General Susana Malcorra for her presence in the Council Chamber today. I would also like to thank His Excellency Mr. Romano Prodi for his briefing today, but even more for his most valuable contributions to the considerations of this issue. Indeed, it was his leadership of the United Nations-African Union panel last year and the ideas put forth in its report (see S/2008/813) that paved the way for United Nations action on this important matter. Last but not least I would like to express our thanks to Mr. Tete Antonio, Acting Permanent Observer of the African Union, for his participation in today’s meeting and for the very comprehensive briefing he has just given us. What we are discussing today is indeed a partnership of vital importance for both organizations, and we are pleased to see the African Union approaching that issue with the professionalism and commitment it deserves. Over the past year or so, a lively debate has been going on in several forums, with the participation of all interested parties, on issues related to the United Nations peacekeeping system. Indeed, we have been putting our heads together with a view to finding the right ways and means to streamline the United Nations peacekeeping mechanism, which still stands as an indispensable tool for the maintenance of international peace and security. One common point that emerged from all those debates was the strong emphasis placed on the necessity of an enhanced strategic dialogue among all stakeholders, in particular between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations. It has been stressed over and over again that the increasing demand for peacekeeping around the globe can be met only by forging new and strategic partnerships between the United Nations and regional organizations. That was also one of the main tenants of the recent “New Horizon” paper prepared by the Secretariat. In fact, it is a long-standing commitment we have collectively undertaken under Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations and in paragraph 170 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document (General Assembly resolution 60/1), as well as in various other Security Council resolutions and statements. After all, there is no doubt that the role played by regional organizations in peace and security is indispensable and is complementary to the work of the United Nations, in particular that of the Security Council. In this regard, the African Union is a particularly important regional actor whose contribution to the settlement of conflicts on the African continent is of key significance in the overall efforts to maintain international peace and security. Indeed, given the time and energy we spend in the Council to help resolve the various conflicts in Africa, it is clear that the African Union provides most needed added value in areas of critical importance. It is for this reason that since the adoption of resolution 1809 (2008), in particular, the Council has been working very hard to develop a more effective partnership with the African Union, a partnership which mutually strengthens the capabilities of each organization and which creates a synergy of efforts towards peace and stability. Our point of departure has been, and still is, that the more efficient and valuable the African Union becomes in its peacekeeping operations, the stronger the United Nations and the entire international community become in their ability to maintain peace and security. Within this framework, the joint African Union- United Nations panel has put forward many useful recommendations which were first addressed in the presidential statement adopted in March of this year under Libya’s presidency (S/PRST/2009/3). There we not only took note of those new ideas, but also called for further joint efforts in this direction, focusing on issues of mutual interest. We also called on the Secretariat to develop, in coordination with the AU Commission, a list of recommendations on ways to help the African Union further develop its military, technical, logistic, administrative and financial capabilities. That is precisely what the Secretary-General’s report does. It further elaborates on those recommendations and proposes practical ways in which the United Nations can assist the African Union to enhance its effectiveness in the deployment and management of peacekeeping operations. As we see it, there are three main areas in which we can, and should, make further progress in order to realize the objectives we have collectively set out for ourselves. Those are: developing a strategic partnership between the two organizations at both the political and operational levels, supporting the institutional capacity-building of the African Union, and enhancing the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing for African Union-led peacekeeping operations under a United Nations mandate. To put it simply, we support the recommendations of the Secretary-General in all three areas. We believe that the time has come to translate them into practice. Indeed, we have spoken long enough. Now is the time for action. In that regard, we particularly share the Secretary-General’s views concerning the need for the establishment of a predictable, sustainable and flexible funding system for AU-led peace support operations, as well as for developing a broad road map for capacity- building with a set of short- to long-term initiatives. Likewise, we very much welcome the idea of establishing a joint task force between the United Nations and the African Union to review immediate and long-term strategic and operational issues, as well as to conduct a lessons learned exercise on the basis of our joint endeavours in Somalia and Darfur. As I mentioned at the beginning of my remarks, today’s meeting provides us a valuable opportunity to underscore our commitment to forge a strategic partnership with the African Union and to chart the course of our future work. Our deliberations today therefore have even more practical importance in the light of the statement issued on 15 October by the African Union Peace and Security Council, which also called for an increased strategic partnership on peacekeeping issues between the United Nations and the African Union. The draft presidential statement to be adopted at the end of today’s meeting will therefore be the response of the Security Council to that call, as well as a testament of the Council’s intention with regard to furthering our strategic cooperation. In our opinion, the comparative strengths of both organizations and the complementary nature of their objectives leave no doubt about the value of an increased strategic relationship between the two bodies. That is why we fully support the draft presidential statement before us, which clearly underscores that point. We would like especially to thank the Mission of Uganda for its leadership, acting on behalf of the African Union, in the preparation of that text. Investing in Africa’s peacekeeping capacity means investing in the security, stability and future of that great continent, as well as of the entire world. It is a sound investment that will surely pay off as the African continent fully develops its own capabilities and realizes its potential. We have already come a long way in that direction. Now is the time to further increase momentum and redouble our efforts towards our shared objectives. Turkey is ready and willing to do its fair share in that regard. The rapidly developing relations between Turkey and African countries, as evidenced by the African Union’s declaration of Turkey as one its three strategic partners, provides us ample ground on which to build. We are committed to doing so.

We are grateful to Mr. Le Roy for his introduction of the report of the Secretary-General on support to African Union peacekeeping operations (S/2009/470). We are also pleased to once again welcome Mr. Prodi to the Security Council. Today’s meeting illustrates anew the particular attention that the Security Council devotes to Africa, including when it comes to resolving tensions on the continent. There is a need to acknowledge that the African Union (AU) and subregional African organizations have in recent years become increasingly active in resolving the problems of the continent. We welcome and support the resolve of the African Union and its member States to bear primary responsibility for the prevention of conflicts and the conduct of peacekeeping activities in Africa. African peacekeepers play an essential role in the operations in Somalia and Darfur. There is no doubt that the African Union’s peacekeeping capacities and resources need to be strengthened, including through the support of countries of the international community. That is the goal of United Nations cooperation with the African Union. In that regard, we must first and foremost focus on strengthening links between the Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council, as well as between the Secretariat and the African Union Commission. In addition to peacekeeping efforts, there is also a need to devote the necessary attention to the building of the AU’s capacity in the areas of mediation, preventive diplomacy and peacebuilding. We welcome the Secretary-General’s focus on further developing cooperation between the Secretariat and the AU Commission, including through the establishment of a joint task force on peace and security, the reorganization of the Secretariat’s current presence at African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa and the initiatives set out in the report on strengthening the AU’s institutional capacities. We have taken particular note of the Secretary- General’s analysis of existing avenues for providing United Nations logistical and financial support for AU peacekeeping operations. There is little accumulated experience to date in that regard. There was only one instance of efforts to implement a support package, and that was irregular in nature. Making such efforts part of a more regular process would be premature at this point. That is particularly so given the fact that the Secretary-General has correctly pointed out that United Nations support financed through the Organization’s regular budget does not always ensure sustainability or predictability for the deployment of AU peacekeeping operations. We also share the Secretary-General’s conclusions with regard to the fact that the responsibility for allocating sufficient resources for African Union peacekeeping operations falls first and foremost on the member States of that regional organization. We welcome the African Union’s decision to increase its contributions to its Peace Fund. We believe that the idea of setting up a flexible trust fund under the AU Peace Fund merits further attention. We also think that the role of the United Nations in relation to such a fund should be to provide expert advice. The establishment by the African Union of a multilevel collective security structure to prevent crises and respond to them in a timely manner continues to be a priority. An important component of that architecture must be an international peacekeeping entity, namely, the African Standby Force, in whose establishment the international community is actively participating. There is also a need to continue to make active efforts to strengthen the institutional and legal foundations of the Force. The Russian Federation is participating in the development and implementation of international assistance programmes for Africa, including in the area of strengthening the peacekeeping capacities of the African Union. Russian specialized educational institutions include training programmes for participants in African peacekeeping operations. Russian peacekeepers are active in almost all United Nations peacekeeping operations on the continent. A Russian helicopter unit is deployed as part of the United Nations Mission in the Sudan, and another helicopter unit has begun its activities as part of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad. We intend to continue to develop our multifaceted cooperation with African countries with a view to strengthening peace and stability in that region. We support the draft presidential statement that has been circulated among members of the Council.

I would of course like to thank Mr. Le Roy for his introduction to the report of the Secretary-General (S/2009/470). I should also like to welcome the presence among us of President Prodi. My delegation would like to associate itself with the statement to be delivered shortly on behalf of the presidency of the European Union. For my part, I would like to highlight the following points. First of all, everyone is aware of, and shares, the considerations upon which our discussion today is based. The increase in peacekeeping operations in recent years poses a significant challenge. The United Nations has had to act continuously, putting eight times as many Blue Helmets on the ground as it had a decade ago. In order to better enable the Organization to overcome those challenges, early this year France and the United Kingdom began an exercise in thinking about and modernizing United Nations peacekeeping. Africa has a unique place in this process. On the one hand, it is the number-one recipient of peacekeepers. On the other, it is taking on increasing responsibilities in these peacekeeping efforts. These African efforts are being undertaken under the aegis of the United Nations, as one third of Blue Helmets are currently provided by African countries. This African effort is also taking place through the work of the African Union, including the gradual implementation of the African Peace and Security Architecture. This stepping up of African endeavours in the field of crisis prevention and management is in line with the spirit of Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter and thus merits the full support of the international community. It merits this support all the more because the African Union faces peacekeeping challenges that are unique to Africa and that relate to the fact that its institutional capacity is so recently acquired. France, like its European Union partners, will assume its full role in supporting peacekeeping by African regional and subregional organizations. This support must have two facets, namely capacity- building and support for operations. The European Union has developed a plan of action for African Union capacity-building. The Renforcement des capacités africaines de maintien de la paix (RECAMP) programme, in particular, is aimed at helping the African Union to put the African Standby Force in place in 2010. France also contributes to capacity-building in Africa through numerous training activities that are aimed at building regional, subregional and national peacekeeping capacities. France and its partners in the European Union also support the operations undertaken by African organizations. This support is well known, but what I wish to underscore today is that it is taking increasingly varied forms. In the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), for example, we see a very clear case of this. France has contributed to the preparation and deployment of the Burundi contingent; the European Union naval operation, Operation Atalanta, is helping to secure AMISOM’s provisioning routes; European countries are among the primary financial supporters of AMISOM; and France provided health care support to the Mission during the mid- September attacks. As the Secretary-General’s report shows, international support for peacekeeping in Africa should be maintained and stepped up. The United Nations has a role to play in this. France agrees with the Secretary- General’s opinion that our objective should be African Union ownership of its peacekeeping instruments, with full respect for the United Nations Charter. In this respect I would highlight in particular Article 24 of the Charter on the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security, and Chapter VIII on the role of regional organizations. Along these lines, we agree with the importance of strengthening the strategic partnership between the African Union and the United Nations. In this respect, we thank the Secretary-General for his evaluation of the various possible modalities for the financing of African Union peacekeeping operations. Indeed, as we build African capacities, we must improve the ways to finance these operations. In this context, we must draw lessons from the support modules established previously in Darfur and more recently in Somalia. These are exceptional cases both for financial reasons — namely, the current crisis and substantial increase in United Nations needs — and for reasons having to do with governance. Every organization, first and foremost the United Nations, has the primary responsibility for financing its activities. This is why the United Nations practice of financing from assessed contributions leads to political, legal and financial problems which we believe to be serious. There are other modalities that are effective and realistic. They must be used. The European Union played a pioneering role in this respect by establishing in 2004 the African Peace Facility and allocating €740 million to it since then. We also welcome the Secretary-General’s thoughts on ways to galvanize potential donors for the African Union and harmonizing their procedures, in particular by helping the African Union establish a trust fund. Finally, we recognize the importance of enabling the African Union to benefit from United Nations institutional experience, that is to say as regards the capacity of the African Union headquarters to plan, deploy, support and manage peacekeeping operations. We must of course not forget the responsibility of the African States themselves when it comes to strengthening their capacity as troop-contributing countries. Allow me to therefore conclude by underscoring that building African peacekeeping capacity is a matter not solely for the United Nations, but also for Africa and all of Africa’s international partners. France is among them and will remain committed to this objective.

The Chinese delegation thanks you, Mr. President, for convening today’s debate. I would like to welcome the report submitted by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon entitled “Support to African peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations” (S/2009/470). I would also like to thank Under-Secretary-General Le Roy, Mr. Antonio and Mr. Prodi for their briefings. At present, peace and stability on the African continent are gradually improving. But regional conflicts still constrain faster progress in Africa. Maintaining peace and stability in Africa remains a real and pressing challenge facing the international community. Without peace and stability in Africa, there will be no sustainable development there. Without peace and stability in Africa, there will be no lasting peace and prosperity in the world. Comprehensive peace in Africa cannot be promoted without joint efforts by the international community. In recent years, the United Nations has been increasing its attention to and contribution to settling issues of peace and security in Africa. Sixty per cent of the items on the Council’s agenda are related to Africa, and nearly half of the Council- authorized United Nations peacekeeping operations are in Africa. We welcome the fact that in recent years, the African Union has displayed a high sense of its political responsibilities regarding regional peace and stability and has actively engaged in good offices and peacekeeping operations in dealing with hotspots and difficult issues in Africa. The African Union has been playing an increasingly important role in maintaining peace and stability in Africa and settling disputes there. It has also served as a bridge and linkage for more effective United Nations interventions in addressing African hotspot issues. However, issues related to African Union peacekeeping operations, bottlenecks in fundraising and capacity-building are becoming more prominent; here, the African Union needs the support and help of all international actors, including the United Nations. We support the establishment of a strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union aimed at maintaining peace and stability in Africa, and we support the provision of practical help by the United Nations to African Union peacekeeping operations. United Nations assistance has played an important role in enabling the African Union to better respond to problems such as those in the Darfur area of the Sudan and in Somalia. That is a concrete display of the Council’s role in maintaining international peace and security. In the future, the Council should strengthen its communication with the African Union Peace and Security Council and assist the latter in increasing its collective capacity to respond to the challenges in Africa. The United Nations Secretariat and the African Union Commission should also step up their cooperation. As for the recommendation proposed in the Secretary-General’s report for the establishment of a joint United Nations-African Union team, we consider it to be generally feasible. How such a team is to be implemented will require further consultation between both sides. We maintain that the United Nations should assist African Union peacekeeping operations in finding more reliable sources of funding. United Nations- authorized African Union operations currently suffer from financial shortfalls, as a result of which mandated levels of troops for deployment have not been reached even after long delays, funding has fallen far below projected targets, and troop-contributing countries’ forces have encountered difficulties in performing their duties. Due to various constraints, a predictable, sustainable and flexible financing mechanism has yet to be established. This is most regrettable. We believe that all parties should study the five financing mechanisms mentioned in the Secretary-General’s report, define fair, balanced and effective mechanisms as early as possible, and ensure their full use by all parties, including United Nations support. We also support stepping up the institutional capacity-building of peacekeeping operations. In addition to the shortage of funds, inadequate institutional capacities in management and strategic planning pose another major challenge to African Union peacekeeping operations. We call for capacity- building to be made a priority in United Nations- African Union cooperation. Through personnel training, information-sharing and the exchange of experience, the United Nations should also step up cooperation with the African Union and accelerate implementation of the Union’s 10-year capacity- building programme. We support the United Nations in helping the African Union to address, via the short-, medium- and long-term measures discussed in the report, such problems as logistics and human resources. The African Union, meanwhile, should also work out a long-term, comprehensive capacity-building plan. At present, the new strategic partnership between China and Africa is developing in a sustained, steady and rapid manner. China has consistently advocated and supported a greater role for the African Union in maintaining peace and stability on the continent. In recent years, through bilateral and multilateral channels, we have provided various forms of assistance to a number of peacekeeping operations in Africa. The fourth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China- Africa Cooperation is scheduled to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in early November. We believe that the meeting will further enhance pragmatic cooperation between China and Africa in all areas. In future, China will continue to help the African Union and countries of Africa to the best of its ability and to support the United Nations and the African Union in strengthening their comprehensive cooperation. Finally, I thank Uganda and other African countries for drafting the presidential statement under the agenda item under discussion today. China supports the Security Council’s adoption of the draft statement to demonstrate to the international community the Council’s political will in support of United Nations- authorized African Union peacekeeping operations.

I would like to thank the Council for organizing this debate to consider the Secretary-General’s report (S/2009/470) assessing the recommendations of the African Union-United Nations panel on the modalities for support to peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations and led by regional organizations, in particular the African Union. I would also like to thank Under-Secretary-General Alain Le Roy, Mr. Tete Antonio, Acting Permanent Observer of the United Nations, and Mr. Romano Prodi for their important statements. Following the Security Council’s consultations regarding the report submitted by the African Union- United Nations panel in December 2008 (S/2008/813), we awaited the Secretary-General’s report with a great deal of interest. It would thus be remiss of us not to convey our wholehearted thanks to him for his report. We also wish to reiterate our appreciation for the panel’s timely recommendations, which make significant contribution to collective efforts to strengthen the African Union’s capacity to meet the challenges facing the African continent and to mobilize greater support on the part of the international community, especially with the aim of improving the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing for African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations. That is all the more important because, despite their repeatedly demonstrated goodwill, subregional and regional organizations, especially the African Union, encounter objective difficulties in supporting increasingly expensive long-term peacekeeping operations or increasingly complex crisis situations. The most egregious and pressing such case is that of Somalia, where, as a result of insufficient financial assistance in support of the African Union’s commitment, the conflict is only deteriorating. The diagnosis is therefore clear: a lack of modalities for guaranteed, flexible financing and limited institutional capacities. We now need to find the best way to address these difficulties, which are certainly not insurmountable. Since the report addresses United Nations- authorized missions, we feel that the optimal solution is to be found in establishing cooperation, or better yet, an open partnership between the United Nations and the African Union, based on Chapter VIII of the Charter. The complexity of conflicts and threats to peace demand a collective response based on genuine political will on the part of the Organization, and in particular the Security Council, to support the African Union’s efforts. Frankly, after all the statements of faith that have been made and commitments undertaken within this very body, which is fond of recalling its principal responsibility as a bulwark of international peace and security, the time has come to act. In the wake of the Secretary-General’s assessment, my delegation would therefore like to underscore the importance of the following tasks. First is the need to strengthen strategic relations and to develop a common strategic vision for the United Nations and the African Union through reliable arrangements between the Security Council and the Peace and Security Council, as well as between the United Nations Secretariat and the African Union Commission, in order to improve their coordination and effectiveness in the prevention and management of conflict and on issues of common interest. The partnership between the two organizations must be maintained and reinforced in order to strengthen the African Union’s human resources. In this regard, we support establishing a special joint United Nations-African Union team for peace and security whose mission is to review current and long- term strategic and operational issues. With respect to making financing for peacekeeping more predictable, sustainable and flexible, we need to establish appropriate financing mechanisms for United Nations-authorized African Union peacekeeping operations, with the ultimate aim of creating a standing African Union peacekeeping capacity and of providing African Union missions with operational resources. The African Union must pursue its internal efforts to set up its own logistical capacities. We must seek ways and means to strengthen the African Union’s institutional and operational capacities in peacekeeping, and to give it all the support necessary to establish the African Peace and Security Architecture and to build a standing emergency response force. While we recognize the importance of peacekeeping activities, special attention should also be paid to prevention and mediation efforts and to exploit the comparative advantages of regional and subregional organizations in this respect. We encourage the United Nations to maintain its support for the African Union’s 10-year capacity-building programme, and we welcome the capacity-building activities undertaken by many United Nations departments with the African Union with respect to elections, mediation, conflict settlement, and peacekeeping planning and implementation. These efforts will have to continue, and we await with interest the assessment to be made later this year of the 10-year programme. We must also focus our attention on close cooperation between all international partners assisting the African Union’s institutional and logistical capacity-building. Turning specifically to the issue of financing, the Security Council, through its resolution 1809 (2008), itself recognizes that the absence of predictable, sustainable and flexible resources constrains the African Union’s capacity for action. Although it is true that voluntary contributions have facilitated the deployment and implementation of peacekeeping operations by the African Union, as many here have recalled, the lessons to be learned from the United Nations Mission in the Sudan or the African Union Mission in Somalia have highlighted the deficiency of such contributions in covering all the needs of a large- scale peacekeeping operation. With that assessment in mind, and given the difficulties facing the African Union in assuming the financial and logistic responsibilities for peacekeeping operations on the continent, we reiterate our support for the recommendations of the African Union-United Nations panel and for the Secretary-General’s assessment regarding the re-allocation of United Nations-assessed contributions to back African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations. It will be recall that the African Union decided in August to devote 12 per cent of its regular budget to financing the African Union Peace Fund. That decision, which we commend, reflected the continent’s desire and political commitment to find solutions to the thorny issue of taking responsibility for peacekeeping operations. Despite that very important decision, it is quite clear that there remains a need for partners and donors to support the efforts of the African Union. Regional organizations, especially the African Union, and indeed the Security Council cannot shirk their responsibility in the maintenance of peace under the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations. Faced with the increased complexity of conflicts and peacekeeping mandates and with mounting requests for assistance, they must pool their efforts and define and strengthen the framework of their partnership and their action. We reiterate our gratitude to the Chairman of the high-level panel, Mr. Romano Prodi, as well as the members of his team for their very valuable contribution. We hail the constructive assessment of the Secretary-General regarding their recommendations. In conclusion, we wish to convey our gratitude to the Ugandan delegation for its efforts to promote the adoption of a draft presidential statement at the end of this meeting. Of course, we support the draft.

I thank Under- Secretary-General Le Roy for his presentation and welcome the fact that Under-Secretary-General Malcorra is also here with us for this debate. We are also grateful for the presentation by Mr. Antonio on behalf of the African Union and to Mr. Prodi for his contribution and for the work of the United Nations- African Union panel under his leadership. The issue of United Nations support to African Union (AU) peacekeeping under a United Nations mandate is important. The United Kingdom welcomes the opportunity to debate it here in the Council. Peacekeeping plays a vital role in the maintenance of international peace and security. In recent years, we have seen an increase in both the scale and complexity of the challenges. The United Kingdom supports the efforts under way to develop a more effective and strategic approach to peacekeeping. Given the range of challenges faced not only in peacekeeping but also in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and mediation, the role of regional and subregional organizations is becoming increasingly important. We therefore welcome the enhanced relationship between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations, in particular the African Union, as outlined in resolution 1809 (2008). Since the adoption of that resolution some 18 months ago, there has been much consideration of the different ways the relationship can be enhanced. We have also seen concrete examples of practical support from the United Nations to the African Union, notably on the African Union Mission in Somalia. The report of the panel chaired by Mr. Prodi (S/2008/813), which the Council debated in March, was an important contribution to the debate. The Secretary-General’s report (S/2009/470) is the latest step in this work. It provides a number of useful ideas for how the two organizations can continue to develop their strategic and operational relationship. As the Secretary-General observes in his report, building sufficient institutional capacity in key management, support and strategic planning functions represents a major challenge for the African Union. We welcome his suggestions to help build African Union capacity, and in particular his proposal for a capacity- building road map. That should form part of the wider African Union strategic plan for 2009-2012 in order to underpin African ownership and responsibility and ensure synergy with the African Union’s overall development. Building African Union management capacity, including resource management, is essential not only to managing immediate and future peacekeeping demands, but also to enabling a more effective partnership between the African Union and donors. We also need to see harmonized reporting requirements for donors. The United Kingdom supports the development of African Union peacekeeping capability both bilaterally and through international partners, which includes support for the Africa Standby Force, regional training centres and African Union political offices. As Ambassador Araud has already told us, the European Union, as the main financial partner of the African Union, is providing substantial additional support — €300 million of funding for African Union capacity- building through the Africa Peace Facility, of which the United Kingdom contributes over €45 million. We recognize the need to work towards enhancing the longer-term predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing for AU-led operations under a United Nations mandate. The Secretary-General highlights a range of potential options in his report. We would not rule out any of these options at this stage. A proposal for establishing a standing flexible trust fund within the framework of the existing African Union Peace Fund has the potential to provide rapid funding for AU operations as well as for longer-term needs. We welcome the Secretary-General’s intention to establish a joint task force on peace and security, which will review immediate and long-term strategic and operational issues. We also welcome the other proposals to develop the interaction between the United Nations Secretariat and the African Union Commission. We look forward to further Council discussion of these issues. We remain committed to continuing to assist the development of the African Union’s capacity to deliver peace and security in Africa.

I would like at the outset to welcome Mr. Romano Prodi and to thank him for his presence with us today. We wish also to thank him and his panel for their laudable efforts in preparing the report (A/2008/813) and drafting its recommendations. These efforts have enabled us to meet on several occasions, including today. We also wish to thank Under- Secretary-General Le Roy for presenting the report of the Secretary-General (S/2009/470) before us and for the efforts he and his colleagues in the Secretariat have undertaken to prepare the report and the assessment contained therein. More than two years ago, the Security Council began to take a serious look at ways in which the United Nations and the African Union (AU) can find a predictable, guaranteed and sustainable source of funding for AU peacekeeping operations. The United Nations and the AU formed a joint panel, led by Mr. Romano Prodi, former Prime Minister of Italy, to study the issue. On 31 December 2008, following a in- depth and detailed study, the panel issued its report (see S/2008/813), which recommended a number of practical steps aimed at converting the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) into a United Nations peacekeeping operation through the use of the United Nations regular budget for six months. In a presidential statement dated 18 March 2009 (S/PRST/2009/3), the Security Council, under the Libyan presidency, requested the Secretary-General to submit a report on practical ways to provide effective support for the African Union and to include in it a detailed assessment of the recommendations contained in the report of the African Union-United Nations panel. The African Union Peace and Security Council, in its communiqué dated 13 March 2009, stated that the panel’s report was an important step in the efforts to enhance the AU’s capacity to address the challenges facing the African continent in the area of peace and security. It also emphasized the need for continued efforts to find predictable, sustainable and flexible funding for AU peacekeeping operations. In the report before us (S/2009/470), the Secretary-General states that the AU Commission repeatedly emphasized that need during its consultations with the Secretariat. Clearly, there is an ongoing effort to support the African Union in building its own capacities. While we appreciate that acknowledged effort, it requires continuous assessment. The main problem — securing sustained, predictable and flexible funding for African peacekeeping — continues to completely elude us. It cannot be solved through voluntary contributions unless States with the capacity to do so commit themselves to making specific contributions to the AU Peace Fund for several years. However, because we doubt that that will happen, we remain convinced that funding from the United Nations regular budget is the best option, at least with regard to AMISOM. We believe that making it a United Nations mission as soon as possible is crucial to the restoration of peace and stability in Somalia and throughout the Horn of Africa region. While some here might say that the Libyan delegation is being radical in its demands, reality shows otherwise. Our emphasis on the requests and needs of Africa is based on the following. First, accelerating the restoration of peace and security in Somalia is essential to restoring stability in the Horn of Africa and to enhancing the credibility of and strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union. Secondly, the United Nations spends huge amounts of money on peacekeeping operations in areas in which there are fewer threats to international peace and security and to the lives of civilians than in Somalia. Somalia must not be treated differently. Thirdly, a number of States that object to the use of the United Nations regular budget in Somalia spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on their maritime presences off Somalia’s coast. Had those resources been allocated to funding and developing AMISOM so that it could meet United Nations standards and reach its authorized strength, the Government of Somalia could have extended its authority throughout the country and the phenomenon of piracy off the Somali coast, which necessitated those foreign maritime presences, would have disappeared. Within its limited capacities, the African Union is attempting to meet the needs of its peacekeeping operations through its Peace Fund, which has been receiving 6 per cent of the AU’s regular budget. On 31 August 2009, during the special session that it held in Tripoli on the consideration and resolution of conflicts in Africa and the promotion of sustainable peace, the AU decided to raise that amount to 12 per cent. We hope that the Fund’s donor base will be expanded and that States able to do so will generously contribute to the Fund until a consensus can be reached within the Security Council on how to find a predictable and sustainable source of funding for AU peacekeeping operations that will enable them to meet United Nations standards and reach their authorized strength. We appreciate the efforts of the United Nations to enhance the capacities of the AU. We also appreciate the support provided to AMISOM by the United Nations and donors, and we hope that that support will continue and grow until AMISOM becomes a United Nations mission. We must not forget that responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security rests first and foremost with the Security Council. The activities of the African Union are meant to support the role entrusted to the Security Council in Chapter VIII of the Charter. Therefore, promoting partnership and shouldering its responsibility towards African Union peacekeeping operations are duties mandated by the Charter, and the Council must carry out those duties and responsibilities without hesitation.

I wish at the outset to thank Under-Secretary-General Le Roy for his briefing and Mr. Antonio for his statement this morning. I recognize the presence among us of Mr. Prodi and thank him once again for his work as Chair of the African Union-United Nations panel. Costa Rica is convinced that a new era of cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations has arrived. Such cooperation is no longer an aspiration or, much less, a claim; it is a need, given the array and the nature of the crises that must be faced by bringing together as many efforts as possible. Cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations has received greater attention by the Security Council in recent years, particularly cooperation with the African Union. However dialogue between the two organizations stands to be strengthened. The Prodi report (S/2008/813) and the report of the Secretary-General that we are discussing today (S/2009/470) bear witness to this. Costa Rica understands the scope of the cooperation between the Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council; however we believe that the matters at the heart of that cooperation must necessarily go beyond the financing of peacekeeping operations. In the maintenance of peace and security in Africa there are shortcomings of which we are all aware. The hostilities among participants, sometimes violent, sometimes concealed, are long-lasting and consume resources essential to the task of building peace. Still, these are opportunities to show maturity and capability. Further, there is a wide array of other possible areas of cooperation that must be strengthened, such as on issues like conflict prevention, early warnings and mediation. The cases of Kenya and Madagascar and the current situation in Guinea are examples of what is possible and show clearly how necessary it is to strengthen cooperation. At this phase in the process of rapprochement and joint endeavours, the key to effective strategic association would seem to be found in timelier, deeper interaction between the two organizations. Formal contacts between the Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council should be reviewed. Let us recall that this year the annual meeting of the councils did not take place due to a matter of formalities. The format of these meetings would not seem to be the most appropriate either. Because of the size of the two structures, the meetings are not very functional. There is a need for greater substantive preparation and this must include the preparation of special envoys, joint mediators and other senior officials who work directly in the primary situations of the joint agenda. On the level of the United Nations Secretariat and the African Union Commission, we support the recommendation of the Secretary-General aimed at establishing an official mechanism for consultation on matters of mutual interest, as well as the recommendation for the establishment of a team at the Under-Secretary-General and African Union Commissioner levels. Since the foundation of this Organization there has been a recognition, in Chapter VIII of the Charter, of the role of regional organizations in maintaining international peace and security. Because of their obvious relative advantages, the regional organizations can be in a better position to act in moments of crisis. The African Union has done just that on many occasions, including, most recently in Somalia and Darfur. However, beyond merely reacting to crises, the most important contribution of the regional organizations to international peace and security is that of their role as mechanisms of collective security. In its Presidential Statement of 19 November 2008 (S/PRST/2008/43), the Security Council underscored the relationship among collective security, disarmament and the development of peoples. The primary function of regional organizations is to offer their members real security assurances, allowing them to allocate their resources to development instead of diverting resources to arms races. This issue is particularly relevant in Africa, where each cent spent on weapons could be better used in education, health care or other areas promoting the economic and social development of their peoples. The African Union must bolster its efforts to vigorously promote collective security on the continent. The situations between Chad and Sudan, between Djibouti and Eritrea and between Ethiopia and Eritrea represent a call upon the African Union to deploy additional efforts and to attain greater effectiveness in maintaining peace and security. There are also opportunities to strengthen African Union commitments to development in the economic and social spheres of the nations of Africa. To conclude, I express my appreciation to the delegation of Uganda for having prepared the presidential statement that we will adopt at the close of this debate. My country supports that statement fully.

I want to thank Under-Secretary-General Le Roy for his briefing today, Under-Secretary-General Malcorra for her presence and Mr. Antonio for providing the perspective of the African Union. We thank as well Mr. Prodi for his participation today. I would like to take a moment to salute the many African nations that support peacekeeping operations with resources, police and troops. These contributions have saved lives across the continent and around the world. We are here today to promote that vital work by deepening the partnership between the African Union (AU) and the United Nations. We appreciate the work of Mr. Prodi, the AU-United Nations panel and the Secretary-General in laying out and carefully analysing possible next steps to advance this important partnership. The United States fully supports enhanced strategic ties between the Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council, along with more structured coordination between the United Nation Secretariat and the AU Commission. We also welcome the attention of the African Union to develop a long- term, comprehensive, capacity-building roadmap in cooperation with the United Nations and international partners. We will continue to support the effort to enhance the AU secretariat’s capacity to plan, manage and sustain peacekeeping operations. And we are dedicated to helping to build the capacity of all African nations to secure peace through mediation, crisis management, post-conflict reconstruction and the development of conflict-prevention capabilities within civilian institutions and civil society. The United States applauds the contributions of African nations to peace and security. Currently more than 70 per cent of United Nations military personnel are deployed to missions in Africa. We note that African nations provide approximately 43 per cent of the forces in United Nations missions on the continent, and we recognize the major deployment of over 5,100 AU personnel in Somalia and the critical work being done together by the African Union/United Nations Hybrid operation in Darfur. As President Obama emphasized during his meeting with major troop- and police-contributing countries last month, the United States is doing its part to improve peacekeeping operations across the continent and around the globe. We are consulting more closely and frequently than ever with leading troop- and police-contributing countries, as well as other peacekeeping partners. We are seeking mandates that are matched by the capacity and resources of their peacekeeping missions. We are intensifying efforts to mediate conflicts and revive flagging peace processes. We are helping the United Nations to mobilize critical assets, including medical, engineering and transportation units, and are devoting more attention to peacebuilding activities so that Governments can enable peacekeepers to responsibly exit when their work is done. Throughout all this, we recognize the need for secure and stable funding for African Union peacekeeping. The United States has been and will remain a major bilateral contributor to African peacekeeping operations and to training and equipping initiatives. We support the use of a multi-donor trust fund. We have also supported, on an exceptional basis, the use of assessed contributions to support the African Union Mission in Somalia. However, we must stress that that decision was only possible in the unique circumstances of Somalia, and the United States is unable to make a broad commitment to support such arrangements in future operations. To demonstrate clearly our seriousness of purpose, I will mention just a few of our investments in African peacekeeping since we last discussed this topic in March. Through the African contingency operations and training assistance programme, the United States has trained over 28 battalions from 15 African countries to prepare over 23,000 peacekeepers for deployment. We have provided substantial equipment packages to African troop-contributing countries, including nearly $20 million in equipment packages for Burundian and Ugandan battalions in AMISOM and another $20 million for 72 urgently needed armoured vehicles. The United States Government has also trained, equipped and airlifted several battalions to serve in Darfur. We continue to support the presence of peace and security advisers at both the African Union’s Strategic Planning and Management Unit and at ECOWAS headquarters. Those contributions demonstrate our commitment to strengthen the African Union’s peacekeeping capabilities, but we recognize that there is much more work to be done. The scale of the challenge is great, and so we encourage other donors to provide financial support for African peacekeeping bilaterally, through multi-donor trust funds or through other mechanisms. We have taken careful note of the Secretary- General’s call for donors to coordinate more closely and to harmonize administrative reporting and accounting requirements. It is in the interest of all nations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of African peacekeeping. We believe that through coordinated efforts between African nations and the international community, including the United Nations, we can achieve real progress. The United States remains steadfast in its commitment to strengthen peacekeepers across Africa and around the world. We are pleased to support the presidential statement that will be issued today.

Thank you, Mr. President, for organizing this important debate. I would like to thank Under-Secretary-General Alain Le Roy for presenting the report of the Secretary- General (S/2009/470). I recognize the presence of Under-Secretary-General Susana Malcorra. Let me also thank the representative of the African Union, Mr. Tete Antonio, for his statement and thank His Excellency Romano Prodi for his words of wisdom and for his formidable leadership regarding the need for building a strategic relationship between the African Union and the United Nations. This debate gives the Council and other Members of the United Nations another opportunity to focus on peace and security in Africa in general and on support to African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations in particular. We commend the panel led by Mr. Prodi for their report (S/2008/813), which made a number of key recommendations on how the strategic relationship between the African Union and the United Nations could be further strengthened. That report was an important contribution towards the overall efforts to enhance the capacity of the African Union in undertaking peacekeeping operations. We recall that after the debate on the Prodi report (see S/PV.6092 and 6092 (Resumption 1)), the Security Council requested the Secretary-General to submit an assessment of the recommendations contained in it. We are convinced that the Secretary-General has made a reasonable assessment of the Panel’s recommendations, giving the Council a firm basis on which to take the process forward. The primary responsibility for maintenance of international peace and security is vested in the Security Council. But peacekeeping is increasingly becoming a shared responsibility in which the United Nations, regional and subregional organizations and the wider international community have critical roles to play. The United Nations/African Union Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) are good examples of the collaboration between the United Nations and African Union. The African Union has shown its resolve towards conflict prevention, mediation and resolution in Africa. It is working on a comprehensive peace and security architecture, including an African standby force and early warning system. The African Union has also underscored the need for its member States to adhere to constitutionalism, democratic governance and the rule of law. The African Union and its subregional organizations such as the East African Community (EAC), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the South African Development Community (SADC) have developed significant capacity, as demonstrated by their response to conflict situations in various countries. African ownership has been shown through the contribution of troops, logistics, political leadership and finances, according to the capacity of its member States. Uganda welcomes the ongoing efforts to strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union. We commend the Secretary-General and his staff, and also the Chairman of the African Union Commission, for the efforts undertaken in fostering stronger ties between the African Union and the United Nations. We are convinced that building a more strategic and effective relationship will be mutually beneficial in our collective efforts towards peace, stability and development. My delegation would like to focus on three fundamental elements that we consider critical for the success of this strategic partnership. First, when the African Union deploys peacekeeping operations it is contributing to the maintenance of international peace and security. It has the advantages of proximity and capability to mobilize and respond quickly. But often the African Union lacks the financial resources to do that. The Security Council, in its resolution 1809 (2008), recognized the need to enhance the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of funding for regional organizations when they undertake peacekeeping operations under a United Nations mandate. It was the expectation of the African Union that the Security Council would, this time, make a firm commitment in this regard. The African Union-United Nations Panel made an unequivocal recommendation to consider the use of assessed contributions for specific peacekeeping operations on a case-by-case basis for a period of six months to facilitate transition to a United Nations mission. That recommendation was also positively assessed by the Secretary-General in his report. Both the Panel and the Secretary-General also acknowledged that voluntary contributions are not only unpredictable but also unsustainable. That is borne out by the example of pledges to AMISOM of over $230 million that were made in April 2009; to date only a small proportion of the confirmed pledges have been disbursed. And yet the AMISOM troops are on the ground in Somalia, taking enormous risks and at times making the ultimate sacrifice, on behalf of the region and the international community. The authorization of a support package for AMISOM was therefore a welcome and significant contribution. After several months of deliberations on the critical issue of financing African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the Security Council, it is not enough for the Council to only undertake to keep all options under consideration. It is important to recognize that an ineffective United Nations peacekeeping capacity anywhere in the world greatly undermines the credibility of the United Nations in the eyes of the population. Secondly, there is a need to strengthen further the relationship between the Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council with respect to conflict prevention, mediation, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. We also call for the enhancement of regular interaction, coordination and consultation between the United Nations and the African Union Commission on matters of mutual interest. Thirdly, the institutional capacity of the African Union needs to be enhanced to ensure the effective planning, management and deployment of peacekeeping operations. We encourage the African Union Commission to develop a long-term comprehensive capacity-building framework, in consultation with the United Nations and other international partners. Let me reiterate that peacekeeping is an essential and indispensable tool available to the United Nations and regional organizations in the maintenance of international peace and security. Its effectiveness will be further enhanced through closer cooperation and coordination between the United Nations and the African Union. Uganda therefore considers this debate to be part of a process in which actions and decisions will be taken to better support and facilitate AU peacekeeping operations. It is time that the Council took decisive action and committed itself to practical ways to provide effective support for the African Union when it undertakes peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations. I wish to once again commend the AU- United Nations panel and the Secretary-General for their reports and, finally, I thank all delegations for their contributions to the draft presidential statement as an outcome of our deliberations.

We are grateful for the important contributions made today to our debate by Under-Secretary-General Alain Le Roy, Ambassador Tete Antonio and President Romano Prodi. I would also like to acknowledge the presence here today of Under-Secretary-General Malcorra. I would like to join others in thanking the Secretary-General for his report (S/2009/470) on support to African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations. Austria fully supports the statement to be delivered later in our meeting by the representative of Sweden on behalf of the European Union. Since earlier this year, the Security Council has been examining key questions of United Nations peacekeeping. The Council does so in response to the increased demand for more complex peacekeeping activities and the subsequent new approach that is required towards the successful implementation of these activities. The Secretary-General’s report, following up on the work of the African Union-United Nations panel (see S/2008/813), provides us with one more important contribution to our discussion of this very pertinent issue. It rightly focuses on areas of particular relevance to the close cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union. The strategic partnership between the United Nations and regional organizations with regard to peacekeeping is of great importance to international peace and security. In this context, the close cooperation and coordination between the United Nations and the African Union, including the regional economic communities, have been of vital importance to conflict resolution, prevention, early warning and mediation on the African continent. Austria strongly welcomes the increasingly important role of the African Union in this regard. Strengthening the African Union’s institutional capacities for peacekeeping operations is essential if the African Union is to take on a more significant role in the maintenance of peace and security in Africa. The Secretary-General has made several proposals on how to address this issue, including the development of a comprehensive plan and road map for capacity- building to be drawn up by the African Union with the support of the United Nations and other relevant partners. Austria welcomes this recommendation and believes that its implementation needs to be considered in the light of ongoing efforts in capacity-building, supported by the European Union and other international actors with a view to ensuring African ownership and close coordination among all relevant activities and actors. In this context, we would also like to commend the current African Union Commission for its leadership in strengthening African capabilities, and would like to invite all African Union member States to lend their full support to these efforts. We hope that important and courageous decisions will be taken in the near future. We are of the opinion that the partnership among the African Union, the United Nations and the European Union has been extremely beneficial to crisis management on the African continent. The Africa Peace Facility, as well as the close coordination and cooperation among the three organizations in specific peacekeeping situations — such as we experienced in the case of the transition from the European Union military operation in the Republic of Chad and in the Central African Republic to the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad — demonstrate that this triangular partnership is beneficial to all. In his report, the Secretary-General also outlines possible ways to support African Union-led peacekeeping missions under a United Nations mandate. As I have said on an earlier occasion at which we discussed this matter, Austria warmly welcomes a stronger role for the African Union in conflict prevention and resolution in Africa. We therefore believe that all options — and I insist on all — outlined by the Secretary-General in his report, aimed at supporting African Union-led peacekeeping missions under United Nations mandates should be seriously and substantively considered further. I listened very closely to what my colleague, the Permanent Representative of Uganda, just said on this subject. The question of establishing adequate accountability mechanisms for the different support activities to the African Union is also critical. We concur with the assessment of the Secretary-General that donors and all other stakeholders should harmonize their respective reporting and accountability standards to alleviate the burden imposed on the African Union by numerous existing requirements. Austria believes that the use of lessons learned is of great relevance to future cooperation between the organizations and would allow them to identify measures for improving their cooperation even further. We welcome the idea of drawing up such lessons, and we believe that this exercise should be undertaken with all partners involved in order to benefit from their respective comparative advantages and insights. Austria is convinced that, in our way ahead, important cross-cutting issues such as respect for international law and human rights — especially the rights of women and children in armed conflict — and the protection of civilians should be integral parts of our approach. We further believe that it is essential to take into account the views and concerns of troop- and police-contributing countries. Finally, let me express my delegation’s full support for the draft presidential statement and thank Uganda for drafting it and for leading the negotiations to a successful conclusion.

At the outset, allow me to thank Under-Secretary-General Alain Le Roy for his valuable remarks, and Under-Secretary-General Susana Malcorra for her presence with us today. I would particularly like to thank Mr. Romano Prodi for his contribution and for all his endeavours, and Mr. Tete Antonio for his contribution to our work today. Croatia fully supports the statement to be delivered later today by the Swedish representative on behalf of the European Union. We have read with great interest the report of the Secretary-General (S/2009/470) on practical ways to provide effective support to the African Union in undertaking peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations, including his detailed assessment of the recommendations contained in the report (S/2008/813) of the African Union-United Nations panel established under resolution 1809 (2008). Recognizing the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security, Croatia supports the increasing engagement of regional and subregional organizations in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction, consistent with Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter. In that context, we further support the development of an effective strategic partnership between the United Nations and African Union (AU) on matters relating to the maintenance of peace and security, as well as the strengthening of coordination and consultation mechanisms between the two organizations at all levels in order to make the most of their respective advantages and, at the same time, to avoid working at cross purposes. I should like to mention that the third meeting between Security Council and African Union members during the Council’s visit to Africa last May constituted a step in that direction. In that regard, we welcome the establishment of a United Nations-AU task force charged with reviewing immediate and long-term strategic and operational issues. Peacekeeping operations undertaken by the AU so far have clearly shown the exceptional value of rapid response on the part of regional actors, as well as the benefits of national and local ownership of such actions. In this regard, we welcome the AU decision to increase the statutory transfer from the Union’s regular budget to the AU Peace Fund from 6 per cent to 12 per cent. Furthermore, we salute all those African States that have so far contributed troops and supported peacekeeping operations throughout the region and beyond. We salute Uganda and Burundi, in particular, for their extraordinary involvement and sacrifices in Somalia. On the other hand, the fact that some of the operations undertaken were seriously constrained by a lack of military capabilities, inadequate resources or weak institutional capacity is certainly a reason for major concern. Croatia shares the view that peacekeeping is not the only tool for dealing with every conflict and that peace and stability in Africa — as well as in many other troubled regions of the world — cannot be achieved through military means alone. We strongly encourage cooperation between the AU and the United Nations on a number of capacity-building initiatives under the 2006 United Nations-African Union Ten- Year Capacity-Building Programme in relevant fields such as conflict prevention, early warning and conflict resolution and mediation. We believe that a forward- looking capacity-development strategy must link the resources of the United Nations with those of other partners in the field. We also strongly support ongoing efforts to strengthen the African Peace and Security Architecture as well as to operationalize the African Standby Force, which would definitely represent a major contribution to peace and security in Africa. We call on the AU to undertake further intensive efforts to enhance its capabilities to plan and execute peacekeeping operations, as well as to develop a long- term capacity-building road map in cooperation with its international partners. At the same time, we are of the view that there is a dire need for better coordination between the numerous donor-sponsored initiatives and other contributions targeting the area of peace and security — of which there are more than 130, as we learned from the Prodi report (S/2008/813). This should alleviate, to a certain extent, the burden on the AU administrative capacities in the field, which have not been fully developed and which are often bogged down by reporting obligations to donors and by multiple audits. In that context, we welcome United Nations efforts to develop a harmonized administrative and financial management framework that could consolidate funding based on a limited number of thematic programmes and a single financial reporting format in order to further engage existing donors and to attract new ones, including from the private sector. Croatia believes that the issue of the funding of regional peacekeeping operations remains central to enhancing the relationship between the United Nations and the AU. We share a common understanding that predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing of AU peacekeeping operations is of the utmost importance. We are looking forward to the continuation of the consideration of all options outlined in the Secretary-General’s report, bearing in mind at the same time the established rules and practices of the United Nations. We also note with great interest the idea of establishing, within the framework of the African Union’s Peace Fund and in accordance with the principles of financial accountability, a flexible multi- donor trust fund in order to maximize the effectiveness of voluntary contributions and provide the necessary sustainability, predictability and flexibility of resources. Finally, let me reiterate our full support for the principle of African ownership as a crucial factor not only for effective action in the field of peace and security in Africa, but also for socio-economic development. In that context, strong partnerships with the international community should only serve as a tool to finally cement and reconfirm that ownership. Lastly, I express my full support for the draft presidential statement and I thank the Ugandan delegation for having prepared it.

I should like to thank Under-Secretary-General Le Roy for his introduction of the report of the Secretary-General (S/2009/470). I also welcome the participation of His Excellency Mr. Romano Prodi and the representative of the African Union (AU) and, of course, the presence among us of Under-Secretary-General Malcorra. First and foremost, there will be no peace and security in the world without peace and security in Africa. Japan therefore welcomes the opportunity to discuss how to further strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and the AU. We are grateful for the report of the United Nations-African Union panel (see S/2008/813) and the report of the Secretary-General, which together provide a sound basis for our considerations. I should like to emphasize that to achieve peace and security in Africa we must address peace and development in an integrated manner. Durable peace cannot be achieved without securing the safety, livelihood and dignity of the people living in conflict situations. Efforts towards peace and security should be accompanied by appropriate actions in favour of development. In that belief, Japan continues to support the efforts of African countries to consolidate peace and achieve economic growth through the process of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, which has been very successful. More than 68,000 uniformed men and women are now deployed in peacekeeping operations, at work throughout Africa. We are deeply grateful to them. Taking the magnitude of this number into account, close cooperation between the United Nations and AU is indispensable at every stage from conflict resolution to peacekeeping and peacebuilding. The mandates of peacekeeping operations increasingly include such activities as disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, and the promotion of good governance and the rule of law. The broad range of peacebuilding activities which go beyond peacekeeping operations could be synchronized closely with the operations. Effective peacebuilding efforts are also an important factor in planning exit strategies for peacekeeping operations. I should like now to turn to the issues of the strategic partnership between the United Nations and the AU, capacity-building and the financing of AU operations. First, we should further promote the strategic partnership between the United Nations and the AU at all levels — at the Council level and between the Secretariat and Commission — because it is beneficial to both organizations to share information and to consult and coordinate whenever making decisions affecting each other. Close cooperation between the United Nations and the AU is also essential for the planning and management phase of peacekeeping operations. In this connection, I should like to urge the Secretariat to review and streamline the various United Nations presences in its Addis Ababa office, and to make them more cost-effective, to achieve the purpose of strengthening the strategic partnership with the AU. Secondly, I should like to address ownership and capacity-building. The efforts of the AU and African countries to undertake peacekeeping operations should be highly commended. But durable peace cannot be achieved by peacekeepers alone. Political and peace processes are essential to promote and consolidate peace. The most effective political processes come from the initiatives of African leaders themselves. We therefore welcome the political efforts of African countries, through the AU and subregional organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States and the Southern Africa Development Community, to resolve conflicts with a strong sense of ownership. We welcome the decision of the AU Summit to request the AU Commission to take preparatory steps to increase statutory transfers from the AU budget to the Peace Fund from 6 to 12 per cent. Japan has also welcomed and supported the AU Panel of the Wise, which is playing an important role to mediate and resolve conflict in the region. With regard to capacity-building, it is essential to extend support to strengthen the capacity of African troop-contributing countries. Japan has committed to assist the capacity-building of the African Peace and Security Architecture through the Peace Fund. We are also contributing to national and regional capacity- building, including support for peacekeeping operations training centres in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, South Africa and many other places. It is also important to support the African Union’s Ten-Year Capacity-Building Programme, as the Programme will be evaluated at the end of this year. I hope this assessment will contribute to improving future implementation. Thirdly, with regard to the financial aspects of African Union-led peacekeeping operations, I wish to make the following general points at this stage. First, the launching of peacekeeping operations requires well-qualified personnel, training, equipment, transportation, logistical support and financial resources. We understand the desire to secure stable resources for those purposes. Secondly, peacekeeping operations which are authorized and conducted by the African Union and its subregional organizations are supported by the African Union budget and voluntary contributions. Thirdly, the main issue is peacekeeping operations which are organized and conducted by the African Union but also authorized by the Security Council. Such operations are also financed by the African Union budget and voluntary contributions. Japan, for its part, has been actively contributing to African Union operations, including $11 million to support African Union activities in the Sudan and $9 million to the trust fund for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), as well as support for other activities. It is important for all donors to disburse their pledges early and to monitor and coordinate their activities with other donors. This practice is similar to peace operations in other parts of the world which are also authorized by the Security Council but conducted by non-United Nations entities. We note recent cases of using United Nations assessed contributions for United Nations support packages to African Union peacekeeping operations — the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) and AMISOM — when it is a matter of either the start-up stage of a United Nations peacekeeping operation, as in the case of AMIS, or an essential integral part of a transition to a United Nations peacekeeping operation, as in the case of AMISOM. In order for the United Nations budget to be used established rules and procedures of the United Nations must be followed. The United Nations Charter clearly states that all expenses of the United Nations shall be borne by Members through assessed contributions. This is a fundamental rule of the Organization, which must be taken into account when considering the options mentioned in the report of the Secretary- General. In conclusion, the issue of peace and security in Africa entails many challenges. Japan is hopeful, however, that the African countries can find a way towards a bright future, and we are determined to continue contributing to that process.

My delegation thanks Under-Secretary-General Alain Le Roy for his introduction of the report of the Secretary- General (S/2009/470), and we are grateful for the analysis and recommendations it contains. We also appreciate the presence of Under-Secretary-General Susana Malcorra and thank Mr. Tete Antonio for his message from the Permanent Observer Mission of the African Union to the United Nations. We also very much regret that no member of Mr. Prodi’s delegation has taken the trouble to remain in the Chamber to hear the Council’s debate. Pursuant to Chapter VIII, Article 52, of the United Nations Charter, the Security Council has repeatedly reaffirmed the importance of building African Union capacities in the maintenance of peace and security in Africa in coordination and cooperation with the United Nations. However, it is clear that the international community should work together to improve the situation and capacity of the African Union, in order to create a true bridge of international and regional cooperation and communication aimed at optimizing collective attention to the challenges faced by the African continent, in the light of the proliferation of conflicts on the agenda and the fact these constitute a good part of that agenda. My delegation believes that to strengthen peacebuilding and peacekeeping in Africa, four main profoundly interrelated areas must be addressed simultaneously: conflict resolution, which means establishing peace; economic development and the building of institutions; respect for human rights; and conflict prevention, based on attention to and eradication of the causes of conflict. None of these tasks may substitute for the other. In many cases, the challenge posed by the magnitude of the task lies in addressing these four enormous tasks simultaneously. We praise the resolve of the United Nations in moving forward in those areas, and we recognize the stated willingness of the African Union to rapidly deploy mediation and peacekeeping missions, with the support of subregional organizations, in order to prevent the escalation of conflict. However, we also recognize that material and logistical limitations of the African Union have reduced the scope of these objectives. It is essential — and we must be honest on this point — to promote greater coherence within the Security Council in order to achieve greater coordination when joint decisions are taken by the African Union Commission and the United Nations Secretariat. In that regard, we support the recommendation of the Secretary-General that relations between the African Union Peace and Security Council and the United Nations Security Council be strengthened in the areas of mediation and peacekeeping. In that regard, we welcome the fact that in the context of the May 2009 Security Council trip to Africa, representatives of both bodies made a commitment to us that they would carry out consultations on ways and means for strengthening cooperation and partnership. It is obvious that much remains to be done along those lines. Clearly this relationship will lead to greater understanding and clear and comprehensive approaches in specific situations such as the crises in Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Sudan. Should this not occur, there is a risk that we will not achieve better coordination and will be left with only our good intentions. We also welcome the recommendations for the establishment of a structured mechanism for consultations and information exchange on matters of mutual interest to both bodies to examine current and long-term strategic and operational matters. This would also assist the implementation of the 2006 Ten-Year Capacity-Building Programme as a general framework for United Nations support for the African Union in the area of international peace and security. Further, my delegation awaits the proposal to be submitted by the Secretary-General to the General Assembly on restructuring United Nations support to the African Union in the area of peace and security on the ground, including further measures aimed at bringing greater integration and streamlining of the Secretariat presence in Addis Ababa. Mexico agrees with the African Union-United Nations panel chaired by Romano Prodi that the success of any peacekeeping operation requires not only a clear mandate but also the support and resources needed for the fulfilment of the mandate. For that reason, we understand that predictable, sustainable and flexible financing mechanisms are a priority requirement. In that regard, we recognize the efforts of the Secretary-General to propose possible financing options for African Union-led and United Nations- endorsed peacekeeping operations for a period of six months and based on concrete cases. We believe it is relevant to analyse in depth the five proposed financing mechanisms based on the efficacy and experience of the African Union Mission in Somalia, the African Union Mission in Sudan and the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur. We should also consider the report that the African Union will submit on identifying capacity- building priorities for peacekeeping logistics, administration and management, which would serve as the framework for guiding assistance programmes and financing mechanisms. We welcome the progress made in recent years in strengthening the role of the African Union and the continent’s subregional organizations in the maintenance of peace and security. We also welcome the implementation of strategies for prevention, early warning, conflict resolution and mediation. In this regard, we deeply appreciate the efforts of African countries that provide contingents for peacekeeping operations in and outside of the region, including on other continents. Lastly, we support the draft presidential statement prepared by the delegation of Uganda that will be adopted as the outcome of today’s debate. We agree that a peacekeeping operation is part of a political solution, but not a substitute for such a solution. Parallel actions must be undertaken to strengthen and support preventive diplomacy, early warning, mediation and conflict resolution. We must focus on those areas if we are to attain peace and security in Africa.

I shall now make a statement in my national capacity. I thank Under-Secretary-General Alain Le Roy; Mr. Tete Antonio, Acting Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations; and Mr. Romano Prodi for their participation and contribution to the work of the Council in today’s meeting. I also thank Under-Secretary-General Malcorra for her presence here today, and welcome the participation of the States members of the African Union (AU) in this debate. While the Security Council has primary responsibility in the maintenance of international peace and security, regional and subregional organizations are playing an increasingly significant role in peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations. Nowhere in the world has this fact manifested itself more vividly than in Africa. Hence, enhancing the strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union will boost the international community’s collective power in resolving conflicts in Africa and improve the latter’s capacity to resolve existing local conflicts and prevent future ones. We fully support the promotion of the strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union in the area of peacekeeping, in accordance with Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter, resolution 1809 (2008) and relevant presidential statements of the Security Council. Since the adoption of resolution 1809 (2008) in April 2008, considerable progress has been made in United Nations-AU cooperation and partnership in this field. Endowed with its comparative advantage and valuable experiences and lessons accumulated through decades of carrying out peacekeeping operations in Africa, the African Union is capable of making important contributions to the success of any United Nations-authorized joint peacekeeping operation on the African continent. Finding ways and means to effectively support AU peacekeeping operations will add value to the Security Council’s task of maintaining international peace and security. Enhanced dialogue and close consultation in their respective decision-making processes between the United Nations and the African Union should be further promoted, especially between the Security Council and the AU Commission. This cooperation can range from conflict analysis to strategy development and the operational planning of peacekeeping activities. We note with appreciation that a mechanism for joint annual meetings between the Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council has been established and implemented for the past three years. We support ongoing efforts to promote information exchange and cooperation between the United Nations Secretariat and the African Union Commission. Due to its limited resources and capacity, the African Union has faced tremendous difficulties in carrying out peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations. Further support should be extended to ensure the successful finalization of the United Nations-African Union 10-year capacity-building programme. The efforts made by the African Union, with the support of the United Nations, to build, over the long term, the African Standby Force, should also be recognized and encouraged. Regarding financial contributions, which remain one of the thorniest challenges to the success of joint United Nations-AU peacekeeping operations, we take due note of the recommendations put forth in the AU- United Nations panel report (S/2008/813) and the Secretary-General’s assessment of these recommendations, and hold that all options deserve due consideration. We call on all able donor countries to extend necessary financial and logistical resources to facilitate the implementation of present and future AU peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations. In this connection, we welcome the readiness of the European Union to earmark funds for the AU in the framework of its Africa Peace Facility. Finally, we share the Secretary-General’s observation that peacekeeping is merely part of a political solution, not an alternative to it. Adequate attention should be paid to preventive diplomacy, early warning, conflict prevention and mediation. Lessons from Kenya, Darfur, Mauritania, Zimbabwe, Madagascar and many other flashpoints in Africa have shown the importance of early warning and mediation in preventing and resolving local conflicts. Apart from pooling resources for peacekeeping operations, earmarking sufficient resources for socio- economic development to address the root causes of conflicts on that continent must be considered a priority because it is the only way to prevent the recurrence of conflicts and sustain peace and stability where it they have been hard-earned. I thank the delegation of Uganda for drafting the draft presidential statement that we will adopt at the end of this meeting. I resume my functions as President of the Security Council. I call on the representative of Sweden.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. Turkey, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Armenia and Georgia align themselves with this statement. As highlighted in the recent New Horizon non-paper, the global demand for peacekeeping activities requires a new strategic approach. Developing close and effective partnerships between key actors should be the centrepiece of such an approach. We agree with the assessment of the Secretary-General in his report on support to African Union-led peacekeeping operations (S/2009/470) that partnerships between the United Nations and regional organizations have become a critical factor of modern peacekeeping. The strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union, including the regional economic communities, should continue to be developed. Efforts should be made to increase the efficiency of relations between the Security Council and the Peace and Security Council, as well as between the United Nations Secretariat and the African Union Commission. The European Union takes note of the measures proposed by the Secretary-General on how to move forward with this partnership. In peacekeeping, a triangular dynamic is evolving among the United Nations, the African Union and the European Union. The current support to Somalia is a case in point. The United Nations and the European Union both give substantial support to the African Union Mission in Somalia. The European Union has also deployed a naval operation to protect vessels of the World Food Program from pirates. The European Union continues to support the institutional capacity-building of the African Union. A road map to operationalize the African Peace and Security Architecture is about to be finalized by the African Union, the regional economic communities and the European Union. The United Nations is engaged through a 10-year capacity-building programme. The Secretary-General has now proposed a number of new initiatives. One useful idea is to develop a broad road map for capacity-building. African ownership has to be ensured, and it should be part of the wider strategic plan of the African Union. Lessons learned from, inter alia, the African Peace Facility should be taken into consideration in any new initiative for capacity-building. We recognize the need to enhance the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing for African Union-led operations under a United Nations mandate, while not ruling out any option currently being studied. We are committed to seeking pragmatic and effective ways by which bilateral and other international partners of the African Union could further support the development of the African Peace and Security Architecture. The European Union recognizes the authority of the Security Council and the General Assembly to decide on United Nations modalities of support on a case by case basis for African Union-led peacekeeping operations under a United Nations mandate. Any proposal must be accompanied by appropriate accountability mechanisms. At the same time, long- term capacity-building should be pursued. The European Union remains strongly engaged with the United Nations and the African Union in peacekeeping. The United Nations and the European Union are increasingly developing joint strategic responses. The members of the European Union bear roughly 40 per cent of the costs of United Nations-led peacekeeping operations. Peace and security is a central part in the strategic relationship between the African Union and the European Union. The African Peace Facility has become an important tool for the funding of African Union-led peacekeeping operations. Today, the European Union bears about 40 per cent of the costs of African-led peacekeeping operations. The United Nations and the European Union share the ambition to support the African Union in general and, not least, in peacekeeping. The information exchange and coordination of our respective support should be further strengthened to ensure coherence and additional synergies. The European Union is strongly committed to further developing its respective partnerships with the United Nations and the African Union, as well as to supporting similar endeavours between the United Nations and the African Union. We are determined to continue to assist the African Union in developing its own capacity to deliver peace and stability on the continent. The European Union would also welcome increased support for the peacekeeping efforts of the African Union from non-traditional donors.

I now give the floor to the representative of Brazil.

I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for the opportunity to address the Council on this important issue. I also wish to thank Under-Secretary-General Alain Le Roy for his briefing, and I appreciate the participation at this meeting of Mr. Tete Antonio, Acting Permanent Observer of the African Union (AU). I also want to welcome the presence among us today of Mr. Romano Prodi. The Secretary-General’s report on support to African Union peacekeeping operations (S/2009/470) draws effectively upon the Prodi report and its vision for an enhanced partnership between the United Nations and the African Union. I would like to echo Mr. Prodi’s call for an approach that looks at Africa from a regional perspective, analyses African peacekeeping within the broader context of promoting social and economic development and strengthens the multilateral dimension of our efforts. Brazil has a permanent, deep and multifaceted commitment to Africa that is rooted in our important historical, cultural and political links with the continent. We seek to support Africa’s efforts to achieve peace, security and development through various means, from military cooperation to technical assistance and capacity-building. Brazil is currently contributing to five peacekeeping missions in Africa and has participated in many others in the past. We also seek to contribute to peacebuilding, in particular through our work in the Peacebuilding Commission’s country-specific configuration for Guinea-Bissau. More recently, we have engaged in initiatives designed to broaden the scope of our bilateral cooperation with African countries in such matters. In Guinea-Bissau, for instance, a Brazilian military mission has been established that is expected to be fully operational early next year, with a focus on training. We are beginning a programme of intense military cooperation with Mozambique, with a specific focus on capacity-building for peacekeeping operations. That involves training officers and exchanging experiences, which will ultimately enable Mozambique to create its own peacekeeping training centre. Consultations are under way with other countries in order to define the terms of enhanced bilateral military cooperation. Peacekeeping is a global responsibility as well as a global asset. As the United Nations recognizes the African Union’s ability to make a unique contribution to conflict prevention and peacekeeping on the continent, it must seek to extend all the necessary support for those endeavours. Cooperation with regional organizations under Chapter VIII of the Charter is, first and foremost, a way for the Council to better exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The Secretary-General’s report on support to African Union peacekeeping operations is a rich document that contains many useful proposals. I am certain that the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, the Security Council and the Fifth Committee will give it the careful consideration it deserves. Today, I would like to briefly comment on a few of the ideas put forth in the report. My delegation endorses the need for a broader and more institutionalized dialogue between the Security Council and the Peace and Security Council of the African Union. Such a dialogue must be informed by the will to listen, thus allowing for a genuine exchange of views with the aim of finding the most appropriate avenues of cooperation between the two organizations. Brazil also believes that strengthening the ties between the Secretariat and the Commission of the African Union is of great importance. We welcome the report’s suggestions in that regard. We look forward to debating the Secretary-General’s forthcoming proposal to reconfigure the Secretariat’s presence in Addis Ababa in the Fifth Committee. Concerning the financing of peacekeeping operations carried out by the African Union under a United Nations mandate, it seems to my delegation that more work needs to be done. Building the African Union’s capacity in the areas of budgeting, accounting and management is certainly an important aspect of that. Donors should also strive to harmonize their accountability requirements and to make their funding mechanisms more flexible, long-term and predictable. The creation of a trust fund for African Union peacekeeping operations is an idea that deserves serious consideration. In our view, a trust fund could have two valuable results. First, it could attract a number of non-traditional donors who would find it difficult to participate in such efforts through the bilateral route. Secondly, by its very nature, the fund could help to address the challenge of coordinating international cooperation, and thus make it more effective. In conclusion, I wish to mention the need for us to see the maintenance of international peace and security in Africa, as anywhere in the world, as a process that is not, and cannot, be limited to peacekeeping. Conflict prevention, post-conflict peacebuilding and strong socio-economic development are key to maintaining and consolidating political stability. The Security Council, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, national Governments and the Secretariat should redouble their efforts to work together, under the principle of national ownership, to effectively support the efforts being made all over the African continent to build peaceful and prosperous societies. Brazil will continue to do its part.

I now give the floor to the representative of South Africa.

We thank you, Mr. President, for allowing us to participate in this important debate today on peace and security in Africa. My delegation joins others in welcoming the presence of His Excellency Mr. Romano Prodi at this important debate. We also welcome the participation of Under- Secretaries-General Le Roy and Malcorra, and we thank them for introducing the report of the Secretary- General on support to African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations (S/2009/470). We also wish to thank the Permanent Observer of the African Union (AU) for his statement. Our appreciation also goes to the Secretary-General for his report and for his assessment of the important recommendations contained in the report of the African Union-United Nations panel (S/2008/813) chaired by Mr. Prodi. The United Nations Charter, as emphasized at the 2005 World Summit, recognizes the importance of forging predictable partnerships and cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations in order to confront current and future peace and security challenges. This recognition is articulated in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VIII of the Charter. Our efforts towards a strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union (AU) in the maintenance of peace and security on our continent are informed by the reality that regional organizations have a comparative advantage in confronting such challenges within their regions, as recognized by the Secretary-General in his report. The comparative advantage is increasingly allowing the AU to respond to conflicts in a proactive and rapid manner, limiting the escalation of conflict and human suffering in cases where the United Nations processes take a long time to decide and deploy while the situation on the ground is deteriorating. The comparative advantages of such an approach are clearly evident in the recent interventions by the African Union in the Sudan and Somalia, as well as through its mediation efforts and peace support operations, thus clearly demonstrating its political will and commitment to confronting peace and security challenges. The African Union continues its efforts to implement the African Peace and Security Architecture to deal with conflict prevention in a sustainable manner. Recalling resolution 1809 (2008), we are cognizant that despite the demonstrated political will to resolve conflicts, the availability of predictable resources remains the most important constraint on Africa’s capacity to give effect to those commitments and help resolve its own conflicts. The increase in peacekeeping operations in the past few years and the increasingly important role regions play in preventing, resolving and managing necessitate the continuation of dialogue between the United Nations and the AU to address that challenge. We expect the Security Council, in acknowledgement of Africa’s efforts, to play its role as the primary body responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security, as provided for in its Charter. That support cannot be rationalized by advancing bureaucratic arguments to prevent us from doing what is morally and politically correct. A clear commitment and unambiguous message by this Council will dispel the perception of many Africans confronted by conflict that the international community is apathetic and indifferent and, at worst, places financial considerations above the interests of people’s lives. It is in this context that the current report of the Secretary-General is to be welcomed. In acting on the mandate of the Security Council as articulated in its presidential statement of 18 March 2009 (S/PRST/2009/3), the Secretary-General reported on practical ways to provide effective support for the African Union when it undertakes peacekeeping operations. The report provides useful proposals and a detailed assessment of the recommendations contained in the report of the African Union-United Nations panel. The report of the Secretary-General characterizes the role of the African Union and its regional organizations in supporting the Security Council under Chapter VIII of the Charter as a welcome development and makes important recommendations on how the United Nations and the international community could further ensure the sustainability and predictability of Africa’s peacekeeping efforts that are mandated by the United Nations. The report provides clear guidelines and recommendations for ensuring a structured and strategic relationship between the United Nations and the African Union, which are worthy of serious consideration and immediate implementation. The proposed recommendation on financial mechanisms also warrants particular attention and further exploration. Whereas those developments are to be welcomed and could form the basis for continued support and engagement, they should not result in complacency. Rather, in working with the African Union, the United Nations should continue to review and seek ways of ensuring predictable, flexible and sustainable financing for peacekeeping operations undertaken by the African Union. It is my delegation’s view that the General Assembly also could demonstrate its willingness to strengthen Africa’s peacekeeping capacity and capability by considering the recommendations of the Secretary-General on financing options, just as the Council is doing here today. In conclusion, South Africa supports the presidential statement to be adopted today by the Security Council. We eagerly await the establishment of the African Union-United Nations task team and its subsequent report on the implementation of the Secretary-General’s recommendations.

I now give the floor to the representative of Tunisia.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the African Group. Allow me at the outset to congratulate you, Mr. President, upon your presidency of the Security Council for this month and on the wise manner in which you have been conducting the Council’s proceedings. We want to thank Mr. Le Roy for his presentation today and to welcome among us Mr. Romano Prodi. It has been seven months since the Security Council adopted its presidential statement on the agenda item “Peace and security in Africa” on 18 March 2009 (S/PRST/2009/3). That statement constituted additional proof of the Council’s recognition and awareness of the crucial importance of establishing more effective strategic relationships between the African Union and the United Nations. The ongoing process of continuous consultations and cooperation between the main bodies of both organizations is indeed commendable and should be further strengthened and improved. We therefore welcome today’s Council meeting to consider the Secretary-General’s report entitled “Support to African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations”(S/2009/470), and we hope it will contribute to achieving tangible progress in this area. While recognizing the Security Council’s primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, we are all well aware of the increasing importance of regional arrangements in the promotion of peace, security and stability in their respective regions. Africa is a perfect example of this rising new dynamism in regional arrangements. The African Union has established a continental peace and security architecture and has shown its unswerving willingness and commitment to meet the challenges faced by the continent in terms of security and stability. The Peace and Security Council, the initiatives undertaken by the Panel of the Wise, the measures undertaken in the establishment of the Continental Early Warning System and the measures aimed at the launching of the African Standby Force illustrate this new dynamic. Nevertheless, Africa’s strong political will to overcome the difficulties related to peace and security on the continent needs to be bolstered by substantial support for the African Union’s resource base and capacities. That was in fact the spirit of the report of the African Union-United Nations panel to consider the modalities of how to support African Union peacekeeping operations chaired by Mr. Prodi (S/2008/813) and the main purpose of the Secretary- General’s report. The issues dealt with were, first, how to establish a close strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union and which mechanisms and processes should be put in place to enhance the partnership between the two organizations; and secondly, what mechanisms are the most appropriate to ensure the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations. In this context, the African Group would like to share with Council members some of our observations on these issues. We stress the importance of a more developed and effective partnership between the United Nations and regional organizations, especially the African Union. Secondly, we underline the importance of the African Union-United Nations panel’s report, dated 31 December 2008, on the modalities for support to African Union peacekeeping operations as a qualitative and decisive step towards improving this partnership for peacekeeping operations in Africa. Thirdly, we take note of the recommendations in the Secretary-General’s report of 18 September 2009. Those recommendations, as underlined at the 206th meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council held in Addis Ababa on 15 October 2009, “provide a good basis for strengthening cooperation between the African Union and the United Nations in the maintenance of peace and security”. Fourthly, we express the readiness of the African Union to continue its consultations and close cooperation with the United Nations in order to ensure “predictable, sustainable and flexible funding for African Union-led peace support operations” (S/2009/470, para. 6). Fifthly, we note with appreciation the recommendations concerning capacity-building for peacekeeping operations. Sixthly, we underscore the crucial importance of effective and continuous follow-up of these recommendations and the means to implement them. The African Group considers that maintaining the momentum of fruitful discussion and consistent consideration of these issues, and ensuring adequate and timely follow-up on the agreed recommendations and measures to be taken, is essential to achieving our common ultimate goal: maintaining peace and security throughout the world by rendering peacekeeping more effective and more compatible with the requirements of each region.

I call on the representative of Nigeria.

Mr. President, I thank you for convening this debate on peace and security in Africa as it relates to support for African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations. The fact that this debate is taking place a few months after a similar one under the presidency of Libya (see S/PV.6092) is indicative of the importance the Council attaches to the issue. Nigeria commends the Secretary-General for his incisive report contained in document S/2009/470, and thank Ambassador Tete Antonio, Acting Permanent Observer of the African Union, and Mr. Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, for their illuminating briefings to the Council. Similarly, we recognize the presence of Mr. Romano Prodi in our midst at this important debate. The recognition by the framers of the United Nations Charter that peace and stability are the precursors of social and economic development explains the special role given the Council on the question of maintaining international peace and security. Nigeria firmly supports the Security Council in its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. However, regional organizations are a critical and integral component of a broader global strategy for maintaining and strengthening peace and security within the ambit of Chapter VIII of the Charter. My delegation is encouraged by the continued close collaboration between the United Nations and the African Union in their efforts to strengthen partnership in the area of peace and security, and by the cooperative endeavours of the two organizations towards achieving peace and security in such challenging situations as in Darfur and Somalia. The Council should therefore build on lessons learned from these endeavours in strengthening future cooperative work. If the African Union is to continue to undertake responsibilities effectively and efficiently, it requires robust support for its existing peace and security architecture, which consists of the Peace and Security Council, the Continental Early Warning System, the Panel of the Wise, the African Standby Force and the Peace Fund. Africa also needs sustainable, flexible and predictable funding for peacekeeping operations, as well as support for facilitating building the continent’s peacekeeping capacity and institutional mechanisms. For these reasons, Nigeria has been steadfast in its commitment to the United Nations, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in regard to strengthening peace and security, particularly at the regional levels. In this regard, Nigeria has played a proactive role in regional efforts to complement the Security Council’s primary duty of maintaining peace and security and in consonance with Chapter VIII of the Charter, concerning regional arrangements. As chief motivator for the creation of the ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group in 1990, Nigeria provided the backbone of the troops that enforced the Cotonou peace agreement for Liberia, ended the civil war and military rule, and restored democratically elected Governments in Liberia and Sierra Leone. As an active and founding member of the African Union Peace and Security Council, Nigeria would like to reiterate its firm support for the Secretary-General’s recommendations on the panel’s report (S/2008/813), as well as the detailed analysis provided in his latest report. We are not unmindful that, no matter how painstaking the exercise may be, it cannot address all the peacekeeping challenges that have built up on the African continent over the years. We are, however, encouraged that, if genuinely implemented by all stakeholders, the recommendations would indeed lay a solid foundation for viable support to the African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations. The use of United Nations-assessed funding to support United Nations-authorized African Union peacekeeping operations, and the establishment of a voluntarily funded multi-donor trust fund, canvassed over the years as a panacea for the lingering problems of peacekeeping in Africa, would be of immense assistance. Similarly, there is a need to establish a trust fund for capacity-building, the development of the African Union’s logistics capacity, and the establishment of a joint United Nations-African Union team to examine the implementation of the panel’s proposals. While reaffirming the decision of world leaders, as expressed in the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document (General Assembly resolution 60/1), that the development of African peacekeeping capacity should be the central objective of the United Nations in the next decade, Nigeria hopes that today’s debate will assist the Council in forging a new consensus and support for the proposals contained in the Secretary- General’s report. Once more, we urge the Council to adopt a presidential statement approving the five financing mechanisms that have been proposed to fund African Union peacekeeping operations, with a view to strengthening the African Union’s capacity to respond to the ever-growing peacekeeping and security challenges in our region. We look forward to the emergence of a robust and more strategic alliance between the African Union Peace and Security Council and the Security Council, as well as between the United Nations Secretariat and the African Union Commission.

I now invite Mr. Antonio to respond to comments and questions raised.

Thankfully, there were no questions addressed to the African Union, but I could not leave this Chamber without thanking all the members of the Security Council and all the delegations that have taken the floor to once again show their solidarity with Africa through their support of the African Union. We have taken note of all the concrete proposals that have been made, and I would like to reaffirm the desire of the African Union to live up to its part of the responsibilities. At this late hour in the debate I would like to underscore in particular Mr. Prodi’s remarks at the outset of the meeting, referred to also by some delegations, that the issue of peacekeeping operations is just part of the problem. There is also the need for a comprehensive approach. In many forums, we have analysed the deep causes of conflict in Africa, which we must bear in mind. We have also spoken a great deal about the need for a capacity-building plan for the African Union. I would like to say here that capacity-building is part of our concerns in the African Union. As the Council knows, the African Union’s strategic plan has four principal pillars — peace and security, peace and development, shared values, and the building of capacity in the African Union Commission. Thus, capacity-building is already a part of our concerns. Everything the African Union needs can fall within the framework of our cooperation with all partners, in particular the United Nations, on capacity-building. Having said that, I would like to reiterate that the African Union is willing to work with all partners, and in particular the United Nations, on moving forward with these reflections that we have begun today — reflections which only strengthen the need for a multilateral approach to matters regarding Africa.

I thank Mr. Antonio for his clarifications and invite Mr. Le Roy to respond to comments.

I would to address just a few brief words of thanks to all delegations for their support for the report of the Secretary-General (S/2009/470), on support for the United Nations-authorized African Union peacekeeping operations. While not repeating what he said, I think that the framework provided by Mr. Prodi was very significant. For our part, we remain firmly committed to working with the African Union, and its Commission in particular, to update the Security Council by next April and, by then, to set up the joint United Nations-African Union Commission task force and to restructure our presence in Addis Ababa to be both more logical and more cost-effective, as the representative of Japan also requested. Finally, as to the last element of our commitment, I have been invited to participate three days hence in the African Union Peace and Security Council summit at the level of heads of State. Of course, I will be present in Abuja in three days. I believe that at that point we will discuss the Sudan and the Mbeki report. This is yet another example of the ongoing strengthened day-to-day cooperation between the African Union Commission and the United Nations Secretariat.

I thank Mr. Le Roy for his clarifications. After consultations among members of the Security Council, I have been authorized to make the following statement on behalf of the Council: “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 organizations, in particular the African Union, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the relevant statutes of the regional organizations. “The Security Council reiterates its primary responsibility under the Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security and recalls 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 welcomes the continuing important efforts and enhanced peacekeeping role of the African Union and its subregional organizations, consistent with Security Council resolutions and decisions, to prevent, mediate and settle conflicts in the African continent. “The Security Council reaffirms its resolution 1809 (2008), which recognizes the need to enhance the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing regional organizations when they undertake peacekeeping under a United Nations mandate. “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 donors. The Security Council commends the support extended by donors to the African Union Peace and Security Architecture through specific mechanisms, including the African Peace Facility. “The Security Council recalls the statement of its President (S/PRST/2009/3) in which it requested the Secretary-General to submit a report on practical ways to provide effective support for the African Union when it undertakes peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations that includes a detailed assessment of the recommendations contained in the report of the African Union-United Nations panel (A/63/666- S/2008/813), in particular those on financing, as well as on the establishment of a joint African Union-United Nations team. The Security Council notes that the aforementioned report is an important contribution towards the overall efforts to enhance the capacity of the African Union in undertaking peacekeeping operations. “The Security Council notes with appreciation the report of the Secretary-General on support to African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations (A/64/359-S/2009/470). “The Security Council reiterates the importance of establishing a more effective strategic relationship between the United Nations Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council and between the United Nations Secretariat and the African Union Commission. The Council encourages further enhancement of regular interaction, coordination and consultation between the United Nations and the African Union on matters of mutual interest. The Security Council notes the ongoing efforts by the Secretariat and the Commission in this regard. “The Security Council underlines the importance of expediting the implementation, in close consultation with other international partners, of the 2006 United Nations-African Union Ten-Year Capacity-Building Programme for the African Union, mainly focusing on peace and security, in particular the operationalization of the African Union Standby Force and the continental early warning system. The Security Council supports the ongoing efforts to strengthen the African Peace and Security Architecture and reiterates its call for the international community, particularly the donors, to fulfil their commitments as endorsed by the 2005 World Summit Outcome document. “The Security Council recognizes that, in deploying peacekeeping operations authorized by the Security Council, the African Union is contributing towards maintenance of international peace and security in a manner consistent with the provisions of Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter. “The Security Council notes the assessment of the options for financing African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the Security Council outlined in the report of the Secretary-General and expresses its intention to keep all options under consideration. “The Security Council notes that the African Union needs to enhance its institutional capacity to enable it to effectively plan, manage and deploy peacekeeping operations. The Security Council, in this regard, calls upon the African Union, in the context of developing its Strategic Plan for 2009-2012, to develop a long- term, comprehensive capacity-building road map, in consultation with the United Nations and other international partners. “The Security Council underlines the need for the United Nations and the African Union to study the lessons learned from the Light and Heavy Support Packages for AMIS, the logistics package for AMISOM, as well as the collaboration under UNAMID and the United Nations Support Office for AMISOM (UNSOA), in close consultation with other international partners. “The Security Council welcomes the intention of the United Nations Secretariat and the African Union Commission to set up a joint task force on peace and security to review immediate and long-term strategic and operational issues. “The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to update the Council by 26 April 2010 and submit a progress report no later than 26 October 2010.” This statement will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/2009/26. There are no further speakers inscribed on my list. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.