S/PV.8006 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representatives of Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Djibouti, Estonia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Kenya, Kuwait, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Rwanda, South Africa, Turkey, Uganda and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to participate in this meeting. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite His Excellency Mr. Smail Chergui, African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security, to participate in this meeting. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite His Excellency Mr. João Pedro Vale de Almeida, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, and Mr. Stephane Ojeda, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross to the United Nations, to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2017/574, which contains the text of a letter dated 5 July 2017 from the Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, transmitting a concept note on the item under consideration. I now give the floor to the Secretary-General.

Let me begin by thanking the Government of China for convening this meeting to focus on enhancing African capacities in the area of peace and security. In my first days as Secretary-General, I attended the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa. I wanted to launch a new era of cooperation with the AU, founded on a core conviction. I firmly believe that the international community needs to change the narrative about Africa and to establish a higher platform of cooperation that recognizes Africa’s enormous potential and promise. In the area of peace and security, the African Union and the United Nations have a shared interest in strengthening mechanisms designed to defuse conflicts before they escalate and manage them effectively if they do occur. Enhancing African capacities is essential both in the context of our collective response to international peace and security challenges as well as for the African continent’s own self-reliance. That is why, on 19 April, I joined with Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, in signing the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security. Our shared objective is to work together closely on the basis of the principles of mutual respect and comparative advantage in all stages of the conflict cycle and to do so systematically, predictably and strategically. We are committed to institutionalizing our partnership through formal annual consultations between the Heads of the secretariats of both organizations. The Framework includes four key action areas. The first is preventing and mediating conflict and sustaining peace; the second is responding to conflict; the third is addressing the root causes of conflict; and the fourth is continually reviewing and enhancing our partnership. I will address each item in turn. First, with regard to our joint efforts to prevent and mediate conflict and sustain peace, the Framework’s effective implementation requires coordinated and complementary action on the part of both the United Nations and the African Union. We must identify the underlying causes of conflicts, work closely on developing joint analyses, share information and strive to reach a common understanding on issues that can lead to prompt action. They include key areas of ongoing collaboration such as good offices and mediation, electoral matters, human rights and humanitarian assistance. It is also critical to ensure that we build on our work with subregional mechanisms with the aim of tackling political disputes. In the Gambia, for example, the strong leadership of West African nations, with the support of the Economic Community of West African States, the African Union and the United Nations, made a significant contribution to reaching a peaceful settlement to a political crisis. And in South Sudan, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the African Union and the United Nations are actively coordinating efforts to achieve a durable peace, including through a joint call for an immediate end to hostilities and a comprehensive and inclusive political dialogue. Secondly, where responding to conflict is concerned, the African Union and various subregional organizations have deployed tremendous efforts to develop and operationalize the African Standby Force and its Rapid Deployment Capability. Under our new Framework, we look forward to further supporting the strengthening of the Standby Force and to exploring synergies with the United Nations Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System. We must also promote coordinated efforts to confront new asymmetric threats to peace and security such as terrorism and violent extremism. In Somalia, the United Nations continues to provide logistics, technical and training support to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and to the Somali National Army. Despite many challenges, our cooperation has helped to facilitate concrete results that have yielded crucial progress, such as the recent successful holding of elections. I firmly believe that with predictable funding and enhanced support to AMISOM, together with a coordinated effort to build the Somali army and police force, Al-Shabaab can be defeated, paving the way for a more peaceful future for the people of Somalia and beyond. That is an opportunity we should not miss. In Mali, we must intensify our collective commitment to further supporting the peace process, with a focus on restoring and extending State authority. I welcome the initiative taken by the Group of Five for the Sahel to create a Joint Force, and I hope that the Security Council will recognize the importance of ensuring that it has a strong mandate and credible funding. In the Lake Chad basin, we must continue to aid the efforts of the African Union and the Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram, as well as other regional initiatives aimed at countering terrorism and violent extremism, ideally with more effective support. The third pillar of the Joint United Nations-AU Framework focuses on addressing the root causes of conflict and emphasizes our commitment to increasing cooperation related to peacebuilding and the rule of law. Sustaining peace and continued development requires strengthening national institutions in order to address the root causes of conflict. Fourthly, we should underscore the importance of establishing a process for the continuous review and enhancement of the partnership through regular consultations and coordination. It will include staff exchanges; joint fact-finding missions; strengthened cooperation in promoting national peace infrastructures; the mobilization of funding for AU peace operations that are authorized by the Security Council; and the prevention of violent extremism and illicit flows of weapons and ammunition. The Framework also emphasizes how critical it is to further advance the agenda on women and peace and security. Enhancing African peace and security capacities requires adequate, timely and predictable financing for AU peace support operations. In May, I submitted a report (S/2017/454), pursuant to resolution 2320 (2016), That welcomed the African Union’s decision to fund 25 per cent of AU peace support operations, a commitment in line with the AU’s goal of achieving self-reliance and African ownership in the area of peace and security. My report included options for financing those operations and highlighted the importance of compliance and oversight in African Union peace support operations through robust and effective human rights mechanisms and a framework for conduct and discipline. The African Union is working to develop those capacities and the United Nations stands ready to provide the necessary support. Taken together, the Joint United Nations-AU Framework, the adoption of the African Union Peace Fund and resolution 2320 (2016) represent significant steps in our efforts to reinvigorate cooperation with the African Union. I pledge to continue working with all Council members to further elevate our platform of cooperation for sustainable peace, stability and development throughout the African continent, and I hope their deliberations on this important topic will be fruitful.

I thank the Secretary-General for his briefing. I now give the floor to Mr. Chergui. Mr. Chergui: I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for the opportunity to brief the Security Council on the important subject of enhancing capacities for peace and security in Africa. I would like to express my gratitude to the People’s Republic of China for the invitation both on behalf of the African Union Commission and for myself personally. I am pleased to be briefing the Security Council under the presidency of China, which has made such an invaluable contribution to peace and security in Africa. In that regard, I would like to recall the donation of $100 million that China has provided in support to the enhancement of the African Standby Force and the regular contributions it has made in recent years to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), to name only a couple. I am also grateful for the Secretary-General’s comprehensive presentation and would like to pay tribute to his unflinching commitment to peace, security and stability in Africa and his tireless efforts to consolidate and further promote the strategic partnership between the African Union and the United Nations, including in the area of peace and security. I would like to assure him of Africa’s full respect and support. The African Union is an indispensable partner in the promotion of peace and security in Africa. Through those efforts it is making a consistent contribution to the task of addressing global security challenges, which are becoming increasingly complex and transnational — indeed transregional. Over the past decade, the African Union has mandated or authorized the deployment of more than 100,000 uniformed and civilian personnel, many of them to some of the world’s most high-risk and volatile environments. That has come at a huge human cost. In that regard, it is worth mentioning that in the past decade, the casualties among African troops in peace support operations have exceeded the total combined casualties experienced by United Nations peacekeeping missions over the past 70 years. This compelling reality demonstrates the commitment of Africans and the African Union to durable peace and stability on the continent. Despite these sacrifices and commitment, African troops are faced with some of the most challenging situations due to inadequate force enablers and multipliers, as well as financial resource gaps. Last week, the African Union Peace and Security Council declared that AMISOM had successfully achieved its mandate over the past decade, on the basis of a recently concluded lessons-learned study by the African Union Commission. Yet, AMISOM remains the least- resourced Mission in comparison with other deployed regional or international enforcement missions with similar mandates. It is against that background that I would like to make a few proposals for the consideration of the Council on how best to support African capacities in the prevention and effective response to peace and security challenges in Africa. First, the United Nations and the international community should promote greater strategic cooperation and coherence in the prevention of conflicts in Africa. Conflict prevention remains the most cost- effective conflict management tool, yet it is the least resourced. I would therefore like to recommend to the Council that both the African Union Commission and the United Nations Secretariat establish an institutional approach that will allow for real-time consultations, joint assessments and joint analysis with a view to recommending coherent options to our respective policy organs that would allow for timely prevention of conflicts, including but not limited to preventive diplomacy. The April 2017 Joint United Nations- African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security represents a good foundation through which to institutionalize that practice. I have already established an internal secretariat within the Peace and Security Department of the African Union to develop an implementation matrix of the Joint Framework, and dedicated staff has been assigned to fulfil this objective. Some of the concrete priorities we are working on in the area of conflict prevention include enhancing coordination between the African Union and relevant African Union organs and regional economic communities in order to create better synergies between the African Governance Architecture and the African Peace and Security Architecture; strengthening platforms for engagement in early warning issues through regular horizon scanning to the Peace and Security Council; assisting our member States to strengthen their own national peace infrastructure; assisting member States to identify and address local, political and socioeconomic root causes of conflict. In that regard, the African Union has developed the Continental Structural Conflict Prevention Framework, which allows member States to identify their resilience and vulnerabilities and brings various stakeholders together to work on a mitigation strategy. As we speak, one of our member States is currently going through this exercise. Other priorities include strengthening efforts to encourage member States to sign, ratify and domesticate African Union instruments related to conflict prevention, and supporting member States in the delimitation, demarcation and reaffirmation of African borders with the objective of preventing conflict and of transforming borders from barriers to bridges. Secondly, the enhancement of the operational readiness of the African Standby Force must be fully supported. The African Union and its regional standby forces have put in tremendous efforts to develop and operationalize the African Standby Force and its Rapid Deployment Capability as one of its conflict management tools, as enshrined in the African Peace and Security Architecture. That was evidenced by the declaration of full operational capability of the Force in January 2016 by the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Defence, Safety and Security. Despite this historic achievement, the Ministers of Defence of African Union member States further recognized that there are challenges ahead, especially with the mandating process, funding and logistics support and therefore called for further strengthening of the ASF. The enhancement process will be achieved within the framework of the Maputo Five-year Strategic Workplan on the African Standby Force, which has been finalized. As I speak, a high-level technical team is undertaking the verification of the capabilities of the five brigades of the African Standby Force. I will encourage Council members and partners to support the implementation of the African Standby Force Strategic Workplan. We look forward to closely working with the new Under- Secretary-General, Mr. Vladimir Ivanovich Voronkov. Thirdly, the spread of violent extremism remains a source of concern. The recent authorization of regional coalitions such as the Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram and the Group of Five for the Sahel force are innovative ways through which the African Union and its member States are responding to the prevalence of terrorist activities within the framework of the African Union Peace and Security Architecture. Yet, prolonged conflicts and governance deficits provide fertile grounds for a cycle of radicalization and extremism. Therefore, the African Union and United Nations must work together to resolve seemingly intractable conflicts by building resilience through sustainable post-conflict reconstruction and development initiatives. This entails supporting the African Union’s efforts in countering violent extremism through greater investment in political, human rights, humanitarian and developmental approaches. In addition, the African Union Counter-terrorism Fund, as well as activities of the African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism, the Nouakchott and Djibouti processes are important coordination platforms through which the African Union can be supported in the fight against terrorism. Here, I should like to reiterate our readiness to work with the new Under-Secretary-General, Mr. Vladimir Ivanovich Voronkov. Fourthly, the financing of peace support operations remains a perennial issue of discussion, which we hope can be resolved soon. In that respect, I am pleased to note that the implementation of the Kigali Summit decision on financing is now under way. We are convinced that the efforts that we have invested in the African Union since 2001 to realize alternative sources of funding will be achieved. As a way of enhancing our accountability measures, the African Union Commission has requested that the United Nations and the European Union nominate representatives to the governance structure of the Peace Fund. Yet, it is clear that Africa will not be able to fund peace initiatives on its own. Therefore, the prospects of predictable and sustainable funding for addressing peace and security challenges, including through the utilization of United Nations assessed contributions remains a common African position. We therefore look forward to further deliberation and possible decision by the Council, in September 2017, on the dedicated support from the United Nations to all Council-mandated African peace support operations. In conclusion, Council members will agree with me that the new leaderships of the African Union Commission and the United Nations are determined to promote greater synergy between peace, security and development. Both organizations have set mutually reinforcing and ambitious, but not insurmountable, strategic priorities, as reflected in Agenda 2063 and Vision 2030 respectively. We continue to count on the political leadership and guidance of our member States, especially in the Council, in the realization of our institutional mandates. Without the political cooperation and support of the Council, the attainment of collective security within Africa and beyond will be difficult to achieve.

I now call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs Senegal and Senegalese Abroad.

First of all, I would like to congratulate you personally, Mr. President, as well as the Chinese Government, on your accession of the presidency of the Security Council for the month of July. I also welcome the organization of this debate, which your country, the People’s Republic of China, has decided to devote to the theme “Enhancing African capacities in the areas of peace and security”. Senegal welcomes the prominent role played by China and its contribution to building peace and security in the world, especially in Africa. This is an issue to which Senegal attaches great importance, and it was highlighted in the discussions during the debate (see S/PV.7816) that Senegal organized last November on the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union. Allow me as well to express my gratitude for the important briefing by Secretary-General António Guterres, to whom we reiterate our support for his firm determination to work for the promotion of peace and security in the world, in particular in Africa, and, above all, for the stress that he has placed on prevention issues, which are very important questions. We also thank the Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union, His Excellency Mr. Ismail Chergui, for his important briefing, which has also shed light on our debate. Today’s debate is certainly part of a move to maximize the enormous potential of the African Union and the African regional economic communities in the area of ​peace and security, a potential that, if used wisely, could make it possible to effectively tackle the immense challenges that the continent faces in this sphere. Senegal is convinced of the importance of a strategic partnership in the efforts aimed at maintaining peace and security in Africa. We therefore believe that strengthening African capabilities in this area must be approached as part of the current discussions on how to intensify the cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union and the continent’s regional economic communities. From that point of view, my delegation welcomes the positive trend to strengthen partnerships in the area of peace and security between the two organizations. In that regard, the visit of Secretary-General Guterres to African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa this past January and the visit made by the Chair of the African Union Commission, Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, to United Nations Headquarters in New York in April 2017, in the framework of the first United Nations-African Union annual conference, reflects a renewed dynamic that must be welcomed. It was during that periodic meeting that the joint Framework for a Strengthened Partnership in the Peace and Security was signed. With the experience of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, under African leadership, deployed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, or of the African Union Mission in Somalia, to just mention a few, the African Union and its regional organizations were able to show their ability to provide front-line responses to the conflicts erupting on the continent. At the subregional level, the tangible results of operations carried out by ECOWAS in resolving several crisis, namely, with the deployment of its Ceasefire Monitoring Group, in numerous theatres of operations, including in Liberia at the time, as well as its missions in Guinea-Bissau and recently its mission in The Gambia, reflect the crucial role that African subregional organizations can play in promoting peace on the continent. However, the lessons learned, specifically in the transition from African Union peace operations towards United Nations peacekeeping operations, shows the limits that African organizations have from the point of view of logistics, operations and capabilities. To that we must add the complexity of the new challenges within the area of peace and security, in particular in Africa, with the increase in violent extremism, the proliferation of terrorist groups, which feed on all kinds of criminal activities, while using sophisticated tools and techniques, not to mention cybercrime, which threatens both the sovereignty of States and the safety of its populations. With more than 20,000 registered attacks a year in Africa, cybersecurity is one of the major challenges that has sorely tested our capabilities to tackle the artful and sophisticated tactics of its perpetrators. Mindful of the seriousness of the problem, Senegal and Spain co-organized in December 2016 an Arria Formula meeting on the subject with the participation of the business community, legal experts and national and international security agencies. Maritime security is another major challenge that must command the Council’s attention — an issue that was in fact widely discussed in October 2016 in Lomé at the first African Union Summit devoted to the topic, after which the Charter on Maritime Security and Safety and Development in Africa was adopted. It will be included in the African Union’s 2050 Integrated Maritime Strategy. As we can see with the several initiatives under way, the African States concerned have, fortunately, strengthened their mobilization and their cooperation to tackle these threats to peace and security despite their very limited capabilities. I would also like to welcome, by way of example, the efforts of the countries that participated in the Joint Multinational Force, which made it possible to reduce the operational means and the advance of Boko Haram. I also welcome efforts at inter-African coordination, supported by the relevant United Nations agencies, in particular the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, to develop holistic and strategic approaches to better tackle threats, including terrorist threats, and to favour the development of synergies between the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary- General for West Africa and the Sahel, on the one hand, and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Africa, on the other, in particular in implementing the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel. I would also like to mention the establishment of the Group of Five States for the Sahel Joint Force, whose deployment was welcome by the Security Council through resolution 2359 (2017). Beyond those very commendable efforts, we must nevertheless strengthen international mobilization and adopt an approach that would favour an analysis of the root causes of conflicts. In that way, we can forever avert violence and wars, which seriously jeopardize the future of many African countries. That is the spirit behind the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa, which Mr. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal, committed to continue since it was first organized in 2014. The first three Forums experienced great international success, bringing together approximately 500 high-level participants from around the globe. That provided an opportunity for a fruitful exchange and to better identify the security and strategic challenges faced by Africa. It also made it possible to bring out new approaches in defence, security and development policies and to strengthen African partnerships with international authorities. I would like to invite you, Mr. President, and Secretary-General Guterres to the fourth Forum, planned for Dakar on 13 and 14 November, which will be devoted to the new strategic challenges of the continent. The theme will be entitled “Current security challenges in Africa — towards integrated solutions”. It goes without saying that strengthening African capabilities in the area of peace and security will be at the heart of the discussions. The establishment of the African Union Peace and Security Architecture is an expression of the African Union’s desire to tackle head-on issues that are linked to peace and security on the continent despite the number of challenges and the scope of the difficulties. In that regard, I would like personally to welcome the role of Mr. Chergui, African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security, in this initiative. We also note the adoption of the African Peace and Security Architecture road map for the period 2016-2020, which aims, among other things, to prevent and to lift obstacles to the full functionality of the Peace and Security Architecture, something we should work towards in order to qualitatively strengthen the capabilities of the African Union in the area of peace and security. Strengthening the current partnership with the United Nations at the strategic and operational levels should allow the African Union to acquire the appropriate tools for effective action given the evolving security challenges that Africa faces, and which require the taking on board of the dimension of sustaining peace, in accordance with the spirit of the idential resolutions on peacebuilding adopted in 2016 by the General Assembly and the Security Council (respectively, resolution 70/262 and resolution 2282 (2016)). At a time when the African Union is assuming greater responsibility in the area of peace and security on the continent — which, let us remember, hosts 10 of the 16 United Nations peacekeeping operations — it is disturbing to note that the lack of predictable and sustainable financing limits the potential of the pan-African organization in this area. My delegation welcomes the efforts carried out thus far in the search for predictable, sustainable and flexible financing mechanisms for African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the Security Council. The adoption, in November 2016 during Senegal’s presidency of the Council, of resolution 2320 (2016) ushered in an important stage for real prospects to deepen our discussion on the best way of ensuring sustainable and predictable financing for African Union peace operations. The four financing options identified by the Secretary-General in his report (S/2017/454) on the possible modalities to authorize African Union peace operations and the provision of support to those operations are robust, realistic and could help the Council take appropriate measures in this area. We therefore hope that the Council will demonstrate all of the political will required to appropriately address this important issue, by working collectively in a constructive spirit to adopt a substantive draft resolution that establishes the principle that peacekeeping operations mandated or authorized by the African Union and with the consent of the Security Council must be financed through assessed contributions from the United Nations budget, with decisions on the funding of specific missions to be undertaken made on a case by case basis.

I would like to express our gratitude to you, Sir, for having convened today’s open debate. I would also like to thank the Secretary- General and the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Peace and Security, who provided us with an update on strengthening the United Nations-African Union partnership. Ukraine aligns itself with the statement to be delivered later today on behalf of the European Union (EU) and wishes to make several remarks in its national capacity. As we gather here today, peace remains as elusive a goal as it has been throughout human history. Despite the universal appeal for peace and the declared commitment of States to uphold it, wars and armed conflicts remain a recurring feature of today’s world affairs. Their causes may be different — some are internal in nature, some are instigated and sustained from outside — but their consequences are similarly horrible. It is true that the long overdue reform of our Organization is yet to be accomplished in order to maintain its once unquestionable credit of trust and to restore its ability to take prompt preventive measures. As a Chinese philosopher once said, it does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. I do not dare challenge that philosophy. Nevertheless, I insist that, in matters of preventing conflicts and gross violations of human rights, the speed of United Nations action is crucial. In 1994, in Rwanda, the United Nations failed to act promptly to prevent genocide. Twenty years later, in Ukraine, the United Nations, the Security Council and the Secretary-General took no action to stop the occupation of Crimea and the military aggression by Russia. Regional organizations remain one of the most efficient mechanisms that are employed swiftly in response to full-scale conflict or a situation where the civilian population is in danger. Therefore, the United Nations should redouble its efforts to enhance strategic partnerships with them, while building up joint planning and supporting collaboration. The African Union has made tremendous progress in developing its peace support capabilities since the deployment of its mission in Burundi back in 2003. Today it acts as the first responder to crises in Africa, with the authorization of the Security Council. As an observer to the African Union, Ukraine follows closely the development of the Union’s peace support potential and shares the view of the Secretary-General that the world can greatly benefit from African wisdom, African ideas and African solutions. As a country associated with the European Union, we also support the approach of exploring possibilities for trilateral United Nations-EU-AU cooperation in order to ensure effective and sustaining peacebuilding assistance in Africa. The upcoming fifth African Union-EU summit in November will provide an important opportunity in that respect. It is also in that light that Ukraine decided to co-sponsor this year’s General Assembly resolution 71/254, on cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union. Last month, in this very Chamber, Council members expressed a variety of views on ways to enhance United Nations-AU cooperation (see S/PV.7971). At the same time, there was a common understanding that both organizations have to work in concert while using their competitive advantages. We believe that, given the complex nature of threats to international peace and security on the continent, supporting the full operationalization of the African Peace and Security Architecture should be seen as a priority for the African Union. At the same time, we see a need to provide adequate support in logistics and funding for peace and security operations in Africa on a sustainable basis. The African Union-United Nations mission in Darfur has become one of the vivid examples of how the two organizations can be partners in the design and implementation of peacekeeping operations. The African commitment and United Nations resources and experience allowed the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur to implement its mandate effectively, thereby paving the way to transition from peacekeeping to peacebuilding in the region. No less important is the African engagement in promoting the political process in Darfur. We welcome African Union efforts to meaningfully engage all parties in the Sudan in the peace process. As Chair of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1591 (2005), concerning the Sudan, Ukraine fosters further collaboration and dialogue between the Government of the Sudan and the United Nations. In May, the Chair and Committee members visited Khartoum and Darfur, where they received first-hand accounts of the state of implementation of the measures imposed by the relevant Security Council resolutions. The visit helped to develop a number of recommendations intended to review the sanctions regime in order to reflect the needs and demands of the current situation. In the Horn of Africa, a strong relationship between the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia, the United Nations Support Office in Somalia and the African Union Mission in Somalia, as well as the Somali security forces, helped to significantly reduce terrorist activity and the number of recruits to Al-Shabaab, which, however, continues to constitute a threat to peace and security in the region. A similar approach and level of coordination with the international community is desperately required in Burundi. Without meaningful cooperation with the United Nations, the African Union and other international community actors, the road to a political settlement of the crisis will be even longer and, most likely, fraught with additional complications and dangers. While resolution 2303 (2016) has yet to produce a breakthrough, we call on Burundi to accept the deployment of the African Union human rights observers and military experts with increased human rights monitoring capacity and police components. Developments in the Central African Republic are a cause for concern. As Chair of the Sanctions Committee on the Central African Republic, Ukraine is especially worried about the continuing presence and violent activity of armed groups. We are ready to continue our practical contribution to support all peace and reconciliation efforts. We recognize the important role of the African Union in that process and welcome the African Union’s initiative on peace and reconciliation in the Central African Republic. As an active troop and capabilities contributor to United Nations missions in Africa for many years, Ukraine is proud to be a part of success stories on the continent. We welcome Côte d’Ivoire being entrusted by the United Nations membership to serve on the Security Council as an elected member with vast experience in peacebuilding and in overcoming past conflict. The United Nations Mission in Liberia is another vivid example of the United Nations positive peacekeeping and stabilization efforts. We must draw from positive transitions from war to peace in order to reinforce the United Nations and regional peace support capacities. Yesterday, the world marked Nelson Mandela International Day. He was a person who devoted his life to the service of humankind in Africa. In that light, it is particularly encouraging that efforts to put in place effective mechanisms for human rights protection have become an indispensable element of the African Union’s activities and policies. Human rights and democracy are two prerequisites that could bring about lasting peace and security on the African continent.

Let me first commend you, Sir, for convening this meeting on such an important theme with the appropriate timing and format. As your concept note (S/2017/574, annex) indicates, there is a continuity of discussions and relevant documents on the issue, and focus should now be placed on implementation. I also wish to thank the Secretary-General and Commissioner Chergui for their briefings. Today’s topic is strategic in relation to the stabilization of the African continent and beyond. As a Mediterranean country with a historical relationship with Africa, Italy is acutely aware of the need to enhance African capacities in the areas of peace and security. In the context of the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, signed on 19 April, the Secretary-General spoke of the mechanisms to finance African Union peace operations, and the report of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission on the same subject marked the outset of a strategic partnership between the two organizations. The African Union has taken on important responsibilities in recent years and shown the willingness to take on more. We support African ambitions with regard to the development of the African Union Peace and Security Architecture, the African Union Peace Fund and the African Standby Force and its rapid-deployment capability. African Union peace operations often have comparative advantages. In that respect, Italy supports the mechanism set out in the Secretary-General’s report (S/2017/454) for joint planning and mandating African Union peace operations. The mechanism provides for African ownership, while preserving the prerogatives of the Security Council. The African Union-United Nations cooperation has been extensively tested in the African Union Mission in Somalia and in the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur. I also recall the potential of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel, referred to by the Minister of Senegal, the revitalization of which we deem essential for the entire region, and the establishment of the Group of Five for the Sahel force to combat terrorism, which, in our view, can effectively cooperate with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali and the European Union missions deployed in the region. We underscore once again the importance of that innovative operation and of the need for the Council to ensure that it receives all the necessary support in our joint endeavour against violent extremism in the region. In that regard, I also underscore that the recently established unified command of the European Union missions in Somalia, the Central African Republic and Mali reinforces the European Union’s strategic role as a coordination partner to the United Nations, the African Union and the African forces. In that respect, I would like to align myself with the statement to be delivered by the observer of the European Union. Enhanced strategic cooperation with the African Union is the main way towards smart and cost-effectiv peace operations. We welcome the commitment undertaken by the African Union Summit in July 2016 to contribute 25 per cent of the cost of African Union peace operations by 2020 and encourage the African partners under the leadership of Mr. Kaberuka to finalize its operative arrangements. We believe that it is important to note that that commitment would significantly increase the financial contribution of Africa to peace operations. The various options to provide financial support envisaged in the report of the Secretary-General can be chosen on a case-by-case basis. I would like to recall that, already in 2008, the report (see S/2008/813) prepared by the panel of experts chaired by former Prime Minister Romano Prodi called for predictable and sustainable financial support to United Nations- approved African Union peacekeeping missions. We are therefore in favour of exploring the use of assessed contributions, provided that the appropriate set of requirements in terms of troop quality, training, equipment and high-accountability standards is met. Predictability as to financing is essential but not the exclusive way to strengthen African capabilities. Equipment, technological innovation and, first and foremost, training and institution-building are crucial to enhancing the effectiveness of African efforts to prevent and manage conflicts and to build peace. Italy stands ready to strengthen its engagement in capacity- building with regard to police and military units in African Union missions, as it is already doing through many centres, such as the Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units in Vicenza, and contribute to devising new training skills tailored to African needs. The interconnected nature of current threats to peace and stability is evident in Africa more than in other areas of the world. Terrorist organizations, transnational organized crime, human trafficking, climate change and food insecurity are all common elements in most of the crises that we are witnessing in the continent. Therefore, given the horizontal and evolving nature of the threats, it is clear that the United Nations cannot and should not tackle them on its own. A renewed and enhanced partnership with regional and subregional organizations based on Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations and on the principle of subsidiarity is essential. Thanks to the coordinated action of subregional organizations, developments in some parts of the African continent are, in our view, a clear indicator of the potential of that approach. In the longer-term, tackling the root causes of African instability is the only sustainable solution. Italy will continue and intensify its efforts bilaterally within the European Union and the United Nations, including the Security Council, to help Africa embark upon a path of sustainable economic growth. We will also continue to provide specific mediation expertise through Italian non-governmental entities, as we are doing in the Central African Republic. In conclusion, so as to achieve those ambitious and important goals, the Security Council has to show its readiness in embracing the innovative spirit that the terms of the relationship with Africa require today. Ultimately, what is at stake is the idea itself of constructive multilateralism, which we as members of the United Nations and of the Council should uphold and advance by showing the necessary political leadership.

I thank the Secretary-General and Commissioner Chergui for their positive and constructive briefings this morning. It was also a pleasure to hear the interventions of the Foreign Minister of Senegal and the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, who reminded us that yesterday was Nelson Mandela Day. He would have turned 99 yesterday. I therefore wanted to begin with a quote from him from his book Long Walk to Freedom. He wrote, “Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished”. Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished, and that flame does remain hidden for far too many people across the continent of Africa. For the people of the Kasai in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the people of South Sudan, that flame may appear almost extinguished and lost among the shadows of instability and conflict. But although the flame grows dim in parts of the continent, Mandela was right. It cannot be extinguished. We know that from the great strides made by countries like Côte d’Ivoire, which is moving away from years of war and now is looking ahead towards decades of peace. We see it in progress towards democracy like the elections in Somalia in February, where women won nearly a quarter of the parliamentary seats. That was a vital step towards one-person-one-vote elections. And we see that flame burn brightly in the work of organizations such as the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States, which are helping African countries find common cause to overcome common concerns. The Council has a vital role to play in fostering that flame. To do so, I would like to propose three particular things that I think we need to do. First, we must all work together — the United Nations, the Council and the countries and organizations of Africa — to address the root causes of conflict. We spend too much time and money responding to crises, rather than preventing them. That is why the United Kingdom so strongly supports the Secretary-General and his sustaining peace agena and his increased focus on conflict prevention. For that agenda to succeed, the United Nations needs to diversify the way that it engages using development cooperation proactively to build peace and supporting more diplomacy, including mediation. As the Economic Community of West African States mediation in The Gambia showed, that means more cooperation with regional actors that have the right to experience and influence to deliver results on the ground. The Council and our colleagues in the African Union must demonstrate unambiguously to those who perpetuate conflict that there are severe political and economic consequences for doing so. Secondly, we must all be ready to respond when conflict does occur. Effective and efficient United Nations peacekeeping is one of our strongest assets to do so, and it is a shared asset. African nations provide over half of the peacekeepers deployed to African missions. I want to pay tribute to all of them for their service, so often in dangerous circumstances. The United Kingdom is committed to improving the planning of peacekeeping missions, the quality and quantity of pledges of troops and equipment and the performance of missions and troops on the ground. But that will count for little if we do not have the trust of those we seek to protect. That means, among other things, eradicating the corrosive spectre of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers. We must implement fully the framework for action and resolution 2272 (2016) to uphold and enforce the highest standards of conflict — zero tolerance must mean zero tolerance. In parallel, we need more women working in missions, out in the field, reassuring local populations, gathering vital intelligence and contributing to more effective operations. Thirdly, we need to strengthen and deepen our existing partnerships. The United Nations and African Union relationship is critical for peace and security in Africa. As we have seen in Somalia, Mali and Central African Republic, that relationship makes such a difference to those most in need. We therefore applaud the work to make those joint efforts more systematic, and we are reassured that the Joint United Nations- African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security will lead to better cooperation and coordination. There are many issues we should address to realize fully the corporation envisaged in resolution 2320 (2016) — agreeing on mechanisms and processesl sharing standards and procedures, including on human rights, accountability and transparency; and establishing, as the Secretary-General reminded us again today, a source of sustainable and predictable financing for African peace support operations. We welcome the work that the United Nations has done with the African Union so far on that agenda, and we now need to see that work continue. I look forward to our visit as a Security Council to Addis Ababa in September. There is a lot more to do, but we cannot be deterred in our efforts to support peace and security in Africa. I would like to conclude by returning to the words of the late Nelson Mandela: “Do not look the other way. Do not hesitate. Recognize that the world is hungry for actions, not words. Act with courage and vision.” Let us all act in that spirit.

I join previous speakers in congratulating the Chinese presidency for organizing this debate, as well as for the concept note (S/2017/574,annex), which was circulated in a timely manner. I would like to particularly thank the Secretary-General for his statement, his detailed report (S/2017/454) and his emphasis on prevention as a central part of peacekeeping. I am also grateful for the briefing by Mr. Smail Chergui. Uruguay believes that, as part of enhancing African capabilities in peace and security, cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations is a fundamental aspect. Such organizations are playing a greater role in building global peace and security. In the particular case of Africa, cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union is crucial and urgent, given the existence of conflicts in very complex contexts, where there are asymmetrical threats, the spread of violent extremism and terrorism and, where in many cases, they must tackle humanitarian crises and massive human rights violations. In that respect, Uruguay values the efforts that the African Union is putting forth with vigour and enthusiasm to achieve peace and development in Africa, playing a positive role in peaceful conflict resolution. For that reason, we encourage the African Union to continue to contribute constructively to addressing the different conflicts on the continent, including the question of Western Sahara, the last remaining vestige of the decolonization process still unresolved in Africa, and where one of our oldest peacekeeping missions is deployed in Africa — the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. The willingness of both organizations to further deepen their strategic alliance when it comes to peace and security has been reflected in several documents, among them resolution 2320 (2016) and the road map signed on 19 April, which the Secretary-General described in detail a few minutes ago. We would also like to acknowledge the report of the Secretary-General issued in May (S/2017/454) on options for authorizing and resourcing African Union peace support operations. The greatest challenge lies in the practical implementation of all of those documents. Uruguay highlights the importance of Africa for peacekeeping, and vice versa. The statistics are clear: out of 16 peacekeeping operations, nine are deployed in Africa, and those missions include more than 80 per cent of all of uniformed personnel and approved financial resources. Out of the 30 main countries that provide uniformed personnel to the United Nations peacekeeping operations, 19 of them are African States. As was pointed out a few minutes ago by Ambassador Rycroft, 50 per cent of the entire uniformed personnel in charge of a peacekeeping come from member States of the African Union. We also acknowledge that the peacekeeping personnel at the United Nation is not always in the best position to respond to a crisis in Africa, especially when there is no peace to maintain or when armed groups threaten civilians. But it is also reality that given such cases, the African Union itself does not have sufficient capacity to respond to those situations. With regard to African Union peace support operations, I would like to underscore three factors that we believe to be decisive in ensuring that the partnership with the United Nations achieve its full potential: planning and establishing mandates, financing African Union operations and developing personnel capabilities. First, with regard to the process for planning and establishing the mandates of joint African Union-United Nations peace support missions authorized by Security Council, Uruguay believes that close cooperation is essential with a view to ensuring effectiveness and efficiency. It is key to continue with efforts aimed at improving the joint efforts of the organizations throughout the entire life cycle of a mission, which includes, among other things, the initial assessment of the crisis and the joint strategic assessment, the launch of the mission and joint assessments of compliance with the mandate and accountability. Secondly, with regard to financing African Union peace support operations, we have observed that a lack of financing and predictable and sustainable support for such operations has undermined the capability of the African Union to take action and respond to a crisis situation. Uruguay believes that the different financing models presented in the report of the Secretary-General issued in May offer viable alternatives to the use of voluntary contributions through trust funds. Therefore, we encourage the Secretariat to continue working on the basis of those options in close consultation with Member States. It is also important to point out that the financial support of the United Nations would be an additional contribution to the financing that the peace operations will receive from the African Union Peace Fund. Thirdly, with regard to developing the capabilities of African Union personnel deployed in peace support operations, as a country that has spent many years participating actively in peacekeeping operations, Uruguay attaches particular importance to the responsibility of troop- and police-contributing countries. They are the ones that carry out actions on the ground and must implement the mandates of the operations. In that context, we highlight that any force outside the United Nations that is authorized by the Security Council, including an African Union peace support operation, must comply with the same requirements as United Nations peacekeeping personnel in terms of capabilities, performance, conduct, discipline and accountability. We point out that the African Union is making efforts to finalize its frameworks on human rights and for compliance with conduct and discipline standards in order to ensure that its peace support operations are conducted in full compliance with international human rights and international humanitarian law standards, as well as to ensure monitoring and accountability. Lastly, I would like to recognize the different efforts undertaken by the African Union in the area of facilitation and conflict mediation— for example, in South Sudan and in the Central African Republic. We trust that an even closer alliance with the United Nations would also contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of such tasks.

We thank you, Mr. President, for having convened today’s timely meeting. We also thank Secretary-General António Guterres and the Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union, Mr. Smail Chergui, for their detailed briefings. We welcome the efforts of our African partners in the resolution of conflicts on the continent. We note the marked intensification of the African Union’s activities and that of subregional organizations in this area, including through the establishment of a Peace and Security Architecture for the continent. We must also note the African Union’s ambitious plan to put an end to armed conflicts on the continent by 2020. We are confident that, in order to effectively overcome crisis situations in Africa, we need an approach that, first and foremost, brings together Africans, gives them the leading role in defining the path to the settlement of conflicts on their continent and ensures effective support for those efforts by the international community. We support an approach that seeks African solutions to African problems. We advocate close cooperation among the United Nations, African organizations and individual States with the aim of developing a coordinated approach to dealing with conflict situations in Africa on the basis of the Charter of the United Nations, the relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions and while observing the basic principles of peacekeeping. At the same time, Russia’s principled position is that any settlement should be carried out using political methods, based on national dialogue and the settlement of the root causes of conflicts. We understand the concerns of our African partners about the provision of adequate resources for African peacekeeping operations. We must increase the predictability, reliability and flexibility of the financing for African operations and joint missions. In principle, we do not object to considering the possibility of expanding United Nations participation in such missions, and we are ready to engage in constructive dialogue in that regard. At the same time, we believe that, regardless of the option we choose, it is extremely important that we maintain the current United Nations system of reviewing and approving the corresponding budgetary requests, ensure transparency and accountability in the allocation and use of funds, and provide for the participation of United Nations personnel in all stages of the planning and implementation of the designated tasks. We believe that one of the reasons for the growing instability on the African continent is the attempts to engage in political engineering in a number of States in the Middle East and North Africa. We regret that the accumulated experiences of the African Union in Libya and Côte d’Ivoire are simply being ignored. Inter-State relations have been unequal and disrespectful, based on ideological dogmas, and international law has been ignored, which have resulted in clumsy interference in the internal affairs of Africans and in the deterioration of State structures, the formation of new sources of instability, and the outbreak of terrorist groups, including the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). ISIL’s positions in Libya have been strengthened and militants have penetrated further to the south in Mali, the Niger and Chad, thereby creating a springboard for the creation of new terrorist threats in the Sahelo-Saharan region. There has been a clear trend of cooperation between ISIL and local terrorist groups, such as Boko Haram and Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. The increasing cooperation of ISIL with Boko Haram is of particular concern. In the border areas of the Group of Five for the Sahel countries, we have seen the Al Mourabitoun group increase its activity with a view to bringing together all the Islamic structures in Mali, the Niger and Mauritania. In Somalia, under the banner of Al-Qaida, the activities of the terrorist group Al-Shabaab have noticeably increased. Terrorists obtain material support through the criminal organizations they control, which traffic in drugs and weapons, organize channels of illegal immigration and take hostages. An essential source of income for terrorists remains the illegal trade in oil and oil products. We have also seen a strengthening in the cross-border link between terrorists and criminals, which is essentially a regional system of regeneration, capacity-building, funding and ideological influence in the sphere of international terrorism. Russia has consistently advocated the pooling of international efforts, which would allow us to develop concerted approaches to countering the terrorist threat on the African continent with an emphasis on assisting countries in the region in strengthening their anti-terrorist efforts. We support United Nations initiatives aimed at creating more favourable conditions for the provision of specialized technical assistance and capacity-building for African countries. We are ready to share with our African partners our counter-terrorism experience and to implement projects to increase the potential of African countries in their struggle against terrorism and extremism. With regard to the activities of terrorist organizations in the region, Russian universities are working to train African law enforcement personnel and peacekeepers. Every year, the educational institutions of the Russian Ministry of the Interior train up to 80 peacekeepers and approximately 150 African police officers through higher education programmes, as well as approximately 300 individuals through short-term professional development courses. We regret the most recent attempt of the delegation of Ukraine to draw the Security Council’s attention away from the issue we are currently discussing.

Kazakhstan expresses its appreciation to the presidency of China for convening this debate, as well as to Secretary-General António Guterres and the Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union, Ambassador Smail Chergui, for their thoughtful and insightful briefings on enhancing African capacities in the areas of peace and security. The first United Nations-African Union annual conference, which was held on 19 April and resulted in the Joint Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, marks a new phase of enhanced strategic partnership between the two organizations. We need to maintain that momentum with a view to accelerating and increasing its operationalization and implementation. My delegation therefore would like to make the following observations. First, we should prioritize conflict prevention and mediation by improving the efficiency of the United Nations-African Union preventive diplomacy with more coordinated actions, early warning, rapid response and what the Secretary-General calls a whole new approach that shifts our focus to preventing conflicts rather than the current trend of spending more time and resources resolving them. That characterized the Secretary- General’s new agenda for peace, which also strives to fast forward the Agenda 2063, including the Silence the Guns by 2020 project. Secondly, our response to crises remains fragmented despite the fact that the causes of crises are deeply interlinked. Therefore, it is necessary to elaborate a comprehensive approach that connects security, humanitarian and development efforts, all with a greater emphasis and additional financial outlays on peacebuilding measures. Currently, we spend more than $7 billion on peacekeeping and less than $1 billion on laying the foundations for long-term sustainable peace by addressing the root causes of tensions and instability. Therefore, we must invest more in sustainable development, building State institutions and consolidating constitutions, democracy-building, rule of law, good governance and security sector reforms. Equally important are investments in human development, including education, health, job creation, employment and social services. We must simultaneously boost infrastructure development in order to foster trade and agriculture, as well as water, food and energy security. Kazakhstan has invested in the problems of technical assistance and capacity- building through the Ministries for Foreign Affairs of 45 African States. Looking to the future, we intend to stay engaged in that sphere. It is critical to focus on climate mitigation, disaster-risk reduction and building resilience, because only that will promote intra-African economic growth and result in greater and more vibrant regional integration and progress. Implementing the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel, which features a dual track of conflict prevention and peacebuilding, is a good model for achieving stability and development in other conflict zones. It is also important to ensure that women and youth are fully integrated into all activities at every stage related to peace and security. It is also important that they are at the negotiating table at the highest levels. Thirdly, the United Nations should be encouraged to leverage the comparative advantages of regional and subregional organizations, as well as groups of neighbouring countries, which possess a better understanding of the dynamics and root causes of conflicts, and mobilize respective local resources. The AU’s peace operations have proven to be very effective owing to the familiarity of African soldiers with their own terrain and local conditions, as well as the tactics of armed groups. Good examples of that are the work of the AU-United Nations hybrid missions and the creation of regional forces, such as the Multinational Joint Task Force, which was able to effectively combat Boko Haram, as well as the Group of Five for the Sahel Joint Force. Likewise, Africa should be part of our global counter-terrorism multilateral action. However, that means that the mandates of our multidimensional hybrid missions must be realistic and achievable. At the same time, they must address asymmetrical conflicts with ongoing monitoring and evaluation. That calls for sufficient financial and capacity-building support to AU. Otherwise, the ability to deliver will not match the expected aspirations. The United Nations and the international community should provide equipment, resources, technical support and training and establish sustainable and predictable financing mechanisms for AU peace operations, in accordance with resolution 2320 (2016). The various options for a jointly developed budget, as identified in the Secretary-General’s report of 26 May (S/2017/454), should be explored for optimal results. We also believe that the Peace Fund will be a robust mechanism for cooperation and partnership. We look forward to discussing the matter further during our planned visit to Addis Ababa in September for the annual consultations with the AU Peace and Security Council. As an observer to the African Union, Kazakhstan remains committed to further strengthening the capacity of the AU and to helping African countries fulfil their vision for peace, progress and prosperity. We need to invest now because as Africa develops, it will shape global events in the future. It is already recognized to be the driver of the world economy in the twenty-first century.

I would like to thank the Secretary-General and His Excellency Mr. Smail Chergui, Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union, for their attendance and excellent briefings. Africa is a continent of hope. Today we are pleased to witness great strides in economic growth and stability in many African countries, which are grounded in national ownership. Those strides have come from undertaking efforts to diversify economies towards self-sustaining growth and enhance the capacities of individuals and institutions. Africa’s bright future, however, is predicated on the development of peaceful societies throughout continent that are free from conflict, poverty and violent extremism. The key to unlocking that future is a combination of African ownership and international partnership. More concretely, it entails responding not only to immediate crises, such as conflict and famine, but also to the root causes of conflict. Resilient national, regional and local institutions are essential to empowering Africa’s greatest resource, which is its people. One year ago, Japan, as the President of the Council, organized an open debate on peacebuilding in Africa (see S/PV.7750). Council members were united on the importance of African ownership and addressing the root causes of conflict, as well as the need to cooperate with regional and subregional organizations, which were included in a presidential statement (S/PRST/2016/12). We commend China for providing an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of those areas for Africa’s peace and stability. The African Union (AU) is a prime example of African ownership being used to achieve political and economic integration, as well as prevent and resolve conflicts, based on its solidarity and shared values. The AU has acquired diverse capacities for regional action on matters pertaining to international peace and security, including mediation, such as regional efforts for the peaceful transition in The Gambia, peace support operations, such as the African Union Mission in Somalia, institution-building, such as security sector reform, as well as peacebuilding in order to address the root causes of conflict. In South Sudan, the AU, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and regional countries are actively engaged, and the United Nations is also working together to change the situation for the better. The United Nations is capable of expanding its dynamic partnership with the AU far beyond peace support operations to include broad efforts to address root causes. In particular, the Security Council can consider the various areas of cooperation included in the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, which was signed in April by Secretary-General Guterres and AU Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat. The Framework includes a focus on preventing and mediating conflict, addressing root causes and responding to conflict, including financial cooperation on AU peace support operations. Broad and holistic cooperation will be needed to meet the challenges we collectively face. Peace and stability in Africa require self-sustaining economic growth. In turn, that requires that the benefits of economic growth reach all people, who must be able to exercise their potential and participate actively in national and social development. Cooperation between the United Nations and the AU on the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063 will play a vital role in Africa’s peace and stability and in addressing root causes of conflict. Since October 1993, together with the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme, the African Union Commission and the World Bank, Japan has co-hosted the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in order to achieve Africa’s long-term development through African ownership and international partnership. Through the TICAD process, Japan’s efforts have always centred on the long-term development of individual and institutional capacities. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we have partnered with the United Nations since 2004 to conduct training for more than 20,000 police officers in the country, including women and reintegrated former combatants. Similar efforts are under way in Côte d’Ivoire and Mali. Finally, during his trip to Somalia in March, the Secretary-General noted that the country is at a moment of both tragedy and hope. The same twin possibilities exist for many countries in Africa and are the subject of much international attention, as demonstrated by today’s open debate. With this in mind, it is essential that Africa’s partners, including States Members of the United Nations, the Security Council, the Peacebuilding Commission and other international organizations sustain the current high level of attention towards Africa. Japan will remain actively engaged with the continent going forward under the twin pillars of African ownership and international partnership.

I would like to begin by expressing sincere appreciation to you, Mr. President, for having organized this open debate to facilitate discussion on enhancing Africa’s capacity in the area of peace and security. This is indeed, as Commissioner Chergui has said, a demonstration of China’s continued commitment to and support for Africa in the spirit of the China-Africa partnership, which we very much welcome. We also thank Secretary-General António Guterres for his presence here with us this morning and for his briefing on the efforts being made to strengthen the United Nations-African Union (AU) partnership. We are also very glad to have Commissioner Chergui with us and are grateful to him for sharing the AU perspective on the topic under discussion today. I must state that both briefings we have heard, that of the Secretary-General and that of Commissioner Chergui, were very enriching indeed. We are also extremely pleased to have with us the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Senegal, whose presence is a demonstration of his commitment and that of his country to peace and security on our continent. It is fitting that this open debate is taking place following the 29th AU Summit, held in Addis Ababa, which, among other things, deliberated on the state of peace and security in Africa. The Summit exchanged views on ways and means of strengthening the role and capacity of the African Union in responding to conflict and crisis situations on the continent. In this regard, conflict prevention has been given the utmost priority, and the Summit attached great importance to the implementation of the African Union master road map of practical steps for silencing the guns in Africa by 2020, as reiterated by Commissioner Chergui in his statement today. Of course, enormous challenges exist that undermine the prospects for realizing this noble objective, and there is a need for greater mobilization of efforts by States members of the African Union as well as its regional mechanisms to reverse the tide of conflicts ravaging various regions of the continent. That is why addressing the root causes of conflicts as well as undertaking effective security-sector reform and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes in countries emerging from conflict in order to avoid relapse was strongly stressed during the Summit. There is also a recognition that if it does not undertake the necessary institutional reforms and ensure self-reliance in financing its strategies, including in the area of peace and security, the African Union will not be able effectively to contribute to achieving sustainable peace and prosperity. It is in this context that the 29th Summit held thorough deliberations on accelerating institutional reforms and stepping up efforts in financing the Union, particularly the Peace Fund, which is considered a key factor for the success of peace efforts on the continent. Accordingly, important decisions were made by the Summit, including endorsing the governance structures and eligibility criteria of the Peace Fund as well as the scope of operations to be submitted, on a case-by-case basis, for authorization by the Council and subsequent financing through United Nations assessed contributions. This is one of the concrete outcomes of the Summit that demonstrates Africa’s commitment to ensuring greater ownership and responsibility in dealing with the peace and security challenges facing the continent. This is indeed a considerable asset for the Council, which has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, in accordance with the United Nations Charter. At a time when the world is confronting new and emerging challenges to international peace and security, the United Nations cannot alone effectively respond to the many existing conflict and crisis situations. Enhancing partnerships with regional and subregional organizations such as the African Union, in the spirit of Chapter VIII of the Charter, is indeed the sensible and logical approach needed to effectively respond to the ever-changing global security dynamics and thus improve collective security. That is why we welcome the Joint United Nations- African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, signed by the leadership of the two organizations on 19 May. We believe that this will contribute to addressing challenges relating to peace and security in Africa across the full spectrum of the conflict cycle. On a number of occasions, the Council has expressed its determination to take effective steps to further enhance the relationship between the United Nations and regional organizations, in particular the African Union. The adoption of resolution 2320 (2016) last year — and we applaud that initiative by Senegal — is a tangible testament to the Council’s commitment to strengthening the cooperation and partnership between the United Nations and the African Union. It is in this context that the Council acknowledged the need for more support so as to enhance AU peace operations and the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing for the African Union-led peace-support operations authorized by the Security Council. As we discussed last month, a concrete proposal has been developed jointly by the United Nations and the African Union that provides options for authorization and support of AU-led peace-support operations on a case-by-case basis. Progress in the discussions on this issue is extremely critical in supporting Africa in building its capacity to deal with its peace and security challenges. The Council has had the right sentiments and made encouraging gestures in terms of expressing full support for the enhancement of the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union, but now it is time for it to match that expression of strong support with concrete action by taking practical steps towards the financing of AU-led peace-support operations authorized by the Council. As the representative of Italy said, this must be a time for implementation. Finally, we once again express appreciation to China for having provided this important platform for discussion on this issue of paramount importance to Africa, building on the important meeting we had last month. We hope that we will be able to sustain the necessary momentum over the next couple of months with the upcoming presidency of Egypt and Ethiopia, in August and September, respectively.

I thank you, Sir, for organizing today’s important discussion. I also want to thank the Secretary-General and the African Union Commissioner for their very valuable inputs into this important issue. Sweden aligns itself with the statement to be made on behalf of the European Union and the statement to be delivered later today by the representative of Denmark on behalf of the Nordic countries. We live in a world where most of the challenges we face are common and increasingly interconnected. The issues of transnational crime, illicit financial flows, the negative effects of climate change and the threat of terrorism — to name but a few — have little respect for national borders. This is no less true on the African continent than anywhere else. The security threats facing African countries are the threats that face us all. They are regional manifestations of global phenomena. Thus, when African countries respond, they respond on behalf of us all. Supporting and further strengthening African capabilities to deal with threats to peace and security is therefore essential to our common and global efforts. In Africa, the African Union (AU), working with other regional and subregional actors, is already playing a central role in enabling regional unity and action. The recently adopted resolution 2359 (2017), welcoming the Joint Force of the Group of Five for the Sahel, is an important example of how the Security Council is moving towards supporting enhanced regional cooperation and ownership to address such common security threats. As we all know, prevention is the best cure. The response to the crisis in the Gambia earlier this year illustrates how active diplomacy at the subregional level, through the Economic Community of West African States — reinforced at the regional level by the African Union and with the strong backing of a united Security Council — contributed to ending the crisis. There are important lessons to be learned from the Gambia experience, particularly regarding the importance of regional unity and aligned action, which can help guide action in similar situations in Africa and beyond. Tomorrow, we will discuss the crisis in the South Sudan. Close coordination among the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the African Union and the United Nations is essential to achieving a ceasefire and resuming an inclusive political process. Enhanced regional capacities will allow regional actors to undertake operations and work in environments where they are best placed to do so. We welcome the current momentum around the United Nations-African Union partnership agenda. We must now act to seize this win-win opportunity. The leadership is in place. Since the very beginning of his tenure, the Secretary- General has rightly underscored the importance of the mutually beneficial partnership between the United Nations and Africa as central to the sustaining peace agenda. The Secretary-General has a partner in the African Union leadership, represented here today by the Commissioner for Peace and Security. The framework for collaboration and cooperation is also in place. The recently signed Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security underlines our shared commitment. The joint efforts of the Secretary- General and the Commission Chairperson to advance the partnership, not least through recent reports and the implementation of resolution 2320 (2016), are welcome and encouraging. With the leadership and framework in place, what is now needed to realize the full potential of the partnership is the stronger financial and better calibrated political support. We recognize the need for flexible, predictable and sustainable funding of AU peace operations, including access to assessed United Nations contributions, and we look forward to continued discussion on the modalities. Sweden is ready to play its part and looks forward to engaging further on this issue, based on the proposals laid out in the Secretary-General’s report (S/2017/454). In addition, as a member of the European Union (EU), we are proud of the long-standing and considerable EU support to the African Union’s peace operations and the African Peace and Security Architecture, not least through the African Peace Facility. In Somalia, we see important work being carried out by the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations, separately as well as through genuine collaboration. In this context, let me also underline the need for continued financing for the African Union Mission in Somalia, which is crucial to stability and peace in Somalia. We understand that the fight against Al-Shabaab in Somalia is part of the global right against terrorism. Based on the positive experience in Somalia, we would welcome further opportunities for a trilateral collaborative platform among the three organizations. Moving forward on this agenda will require substantial and sustained political investment, including on the part of the Security Council. Our efforts to enhance African capabilities must go beyond strengthening military responses. Holistic approaches to peacebuilding across the conflict cycle are needed. Such approaches include structural prevention, as well as building strong and inclusive institutions. They also require scaled-up efforts to address the root causes of conflict and underdevelopment, including by ensuring respect for human rights, also within peace operations, and the inclusion of women in mediation and peace processes. Taken together, the AU Agenda 2063, the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the sustaining peace agenda can offer a framework for this work. The upcoming annual consultation with the AU Peace and Security Council, followed by the plenary session of the General Assembly, both in September; the AU-EU Summit in Abidjan in November; as well as a sequence of discussions planned in the Council all offer opportunities to move forward with this agenda. Let us fully seize these opportunities.

Bolivia welcomes the Secretary-General and the Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union, Mr. Chergui, and thanks them for their briefings. We also thank China for having organized this important debate. Bolivia believes that the development of African capabilities in the areas of peace and security should be framed in the principles of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and in accordance with the national priorities of each State. The countries of Africa enjoy a unique history where the plurality of cultures converges and where biodiversity, ecosystems and natural resources are the heritage of Africans and humankind. It is pertinent to recall that, in the 1960s, Africa took a major step forward in addressing its problems by creating the Organization of African Unity, drawing the foundational outline of the continent’s integration dynamics and setting the stage for the construction of African conflict-resolution initiatives. Over time, the Organization of African Unity gave way to the African Union and a gamut of organizations such as African Union Commission, the Pan African Parliament, the Economic, Social and Cultural Council, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Union International Law Commission and the Peace and Security Council, among others. Each step strengthened the institutionality of African organizations, deepening the integration dynamics of the continent. This institution-building has given us many successful examples of what we now call “African solutions to African problems”. In the same way, time has also shown us that African institutions and organizations can benefit greatly from the experience and practices of other international institutions and organizations, such as the United Nations, provided that the relationship is one of respect and partnership and does not impose formulas and alien ways. As an example within the framework of the collective approach, coordination and joint work with the United Nations, we must highlight the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, which has enabled the African Union to do important work on the protection of civilians, which is one of the most important peacekeeping tasks in the world. Similarly, the African Union Mission in Somalia demonstrates the active participation of the African Union in the region through the initiative to stabilize the country through dialogue and reconciliation. Furthermore, the participation of such subregional organizations as the Economic Community of Central African States and the Economic Community of West African States have proven their importance in the area of ​cooperation. Likewise, the role played by the Group of Five for the Sahel in Mali reinforces the work of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali in areas of border security, the fight against organized crime and the protection of civilians in the sector. It is extremely important that we continue to support that regional initiative. Bolivia reiterates that it is essential to consolidate the strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union in the political, operational, tactical and financial spheres. In that regard, the African Union has acknowledged that it hopes to receive support from the United Nations for the development of its capabilities, a sentiment reflected in the document entitled “Enhancing United Nations- African Union cooperation: Framework for the 10-year capacity building programme for the African Union”, agreed in November 2006 — with peace and security as one of the dimensions of that cooperative framework. Ten years later, in a qualitatively different African context from that in 2006, which, despite the notable progress, is still complex, we have the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, signed on 19 April. The Framework identifies various activities that could enhance the strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union. Among those ideas is the need to develop a shared understanding of the factors that give rise to conflict, to share early warning information on potential conflicts, to jointly develop ways to prevent conflicts, and to coordinate joint action and mutual support during the various stages of conflict response — ranging from conflict mediation and management to peacekeeping and peacebuilding. We are eagerly looking forward to the Council’s visit to the African Union Peace and Security Council, which will enable the consolidation of the cooperative framework between those institutions and the concrete pursuit of additional steps that will bolster the capacities of the African Union in the field of peace and security. Bolivia firmly believes that multilateralism, preventive diplomacy, mediation, good offices and inclusive dialogue are key instruments in the promotion of peace, stability and socioeconomic development in Africa. Finally, we must note that it is time to permanently settle our historic debt to Africa. Partner countries and entities should keep their commitments to Africa in that regard, so that we can continue on the path to stability, peace, security and development of the people of our brother continent.

I would like to begin by thanking you, Mr. President, for having organized this very timely debate. I would also like to thank the Secretary-General and the Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union, Mr. Smail Chergui, for their briefings and for their personal commitment to fostering strong relations between their two organizations, which is a top priority for France. I would also like to warmly welcome the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Senegal, Mr. Mankeur Ndiaye. I would like to highlight three points. First of all, France warmly welcomes the firm commitment of African countries and organizations to the peace and security of the continent. That commitment is evident in the participation of African States in peacekeeping operations, in which they have been among the top contributors of both military and police personnel. Indeed, some African States have taken the decision to increase their participation, and France welcomes their initiative. The African commitment to peace and security on the continent is also reflected in the operations under the auspices of the African Union. That is definitely the case for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Multinational Joint Task Force fighting Boko Haram today, but we have also seen, in past years, the African-led International Support Mission in Mali and the African-led International Support Mission in the Central African Republic. In the Gulf of Guinea, the countries of the Economic Community of West African States and the Economic Community of Central African States have joined forces to combat the resurgence of maritime piracy. For the continent as a whole, the operationalization of the African Standby Force is a positive development that provides significant opportunities. Today it is the countries of the Group of Five (G-5) for the Sahel that are showing their willingness to be fully engaged in the fight against terrorist groups that destabilize the region. That strong commitment is to be welcomed and encouraged, and is the goal of resolution 2359 (2017), adopted by the Council on 21 June. Secondly, against that backdrop of progress, France fully supports the African continent’s commitment to peace and security. The Ten-Year Capacity Building Programme for the African Union reflects Africa’s commitment, which France fully supports. At the bilateral level, France is one of the leading partners of African countries on issues of peace and security. In that connection, France has contributed to the training of more than 25,000 African soldiers per year, officers and soldiers, in 11 African countries. Those courses cover more than 57 different themes, including peacekeeping, management training, logistics, demining and maritime security. They are priority courses offered through a network of 14 national schools with a regional focus, but also in officer schools in France. France also collaborates at the operational level with a view to implementing partnership agreements. France thereby supports our African partners in peace operations and contributes to such operations by providing training, but also by equipping African contingents and supporting their operational deployment. In the Sahel, French forces of Operation Barkhane are fighting alongside the African and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali forces for the stability of the region. In the Gulf of Guinea, in the framework of Operation Corymbe, France supports the maritime security efforts of the countries of the region. Those efforts are intended to be carried out in synergy with those being deployed by international organizations, in particular the European Union. In Mali, the Niger, the Central African Republic and Somalia, the European Union is committed to strengthening African peace and security capacities through its European Union Military Training Mission in the Central African Republic and European Union Capacity Building Mission in Mali operations. The European Union is also a major contributor to the financing of African operations, such as AMISOM, the Multinational Joint Task Force for the fight against Boko Haram, and the G-5 Sahel Joint Force. That support also includes promoting an integrated approach to the stabilization and fostering sustainable peace. In that connection, on 13 July, France, Germany and the European Union launched the Alliance for the Sahel, which promotes an integrated approach to the region — focusing initially on security and stabilization and then on medium- and long-term development. Drawing on that experience, France calls on the international community to maintain and bolster its support for the continent. Thirdly, the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union — which France firmly believes must be strengthened — is now more than ever a way to ensure African capacity-building in the area of peace and security. Over the past few months, there has been growing momentum in pursuit of enhancing the existing cooperation between the two organizations. In that respect, I welcome the Secretary-General’s personal commitment to that process, particularly through the partnership framework that he signed with the African Union in April. That momentum is necessary in a context where African peace operations can have real comparative advantages over those of the United Nations when they contribute to the goals of the Charter of the United Nations and build on its provisions. The reports of the Secretary-General (S/2017/454) and the Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union submitted in accordance with resolution 2320 (2016) have provided useful information on the progress that has been made and the objectives still to be achieved. Their proposals on mechanisms for deploying and financing African peace operations deserve close, constructive and collective examination from the perspective of current reciprocal commitments. In that context, we welcome the African Union’s commitments, both with regard to covering 25 per cent of the cost of its operations and related aspects, such as their planning and conduct, and with regard to training and supervision, including through mechanisms for accountability and respect for human rights on the part of the forces concerned. A strengthened, dynamic dialogue will enable us to make structural improvements to our common response efforts. Next September’s consultations in Addis Ababa between the Security Council and the Peace and Security Council of the African Union will be an important phase in that regard. The development of African peace capacities is a crucial factor for peace and stability on the continent and therefore a priority area for us. France will continue to play its full part in the efforts for security in Africa in a spirit of dynamic partnership.

I would first like to thank China, as President of the Security Council for the month of July, for choosing the subject of enhancing African capacities in the area of peace and security for today’s open debate. It demonstrates China’s commitment to strengthening peace and security efforts in Africa. I would also like to thank the Secretary-General and the Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union for their comprehensive briefings on the evolution of cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union (AU) in the various areas related to peace and security. The past few months have seen a number of developments with regard to the strengthening of peace and security in Africa. In January, the African Union Summit adopted a road map reaffirming its decision on practical steps to silence the guns by 2020, whose effects can be measured and which divides the burden of the tasks involved between the African Union and regional organizations. The month of April saw the signing of the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, which the Secretary-General and the Commissioner discussed this morning in their briefings. To that we can add the Secretary-General’s report (S/2017/454) pursuant to resolution 2320 (2016), on options for providing support to African Union peace support operations. From now on, the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union constitutes one of the pillars of the two organizations in their efforts to deal with the challenges facing our continent of Africa, based on Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations and with regard to the specific characteristics of each of the parties concerned. In the past few years we have seen joint efforts meet with success in such peacekeeping operations as the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur and through United Nations support to the African Union Mission in Somalia. Through its Office to the African Union, the United Nations has also helped to strengthen the AU Commission’s human and institutional capacities, in a demonstration of the increased awareness in both organizations of the importance of new, innovative working methods in dealing with today’s challenges to peace and security in Africa, which demand that the cooperation arrangements between the two be restructured. As the challenges continue to evolve in unconventional ways, taking the form of transnational organized crime, terrorism, piracy and trafficking in small arms and light weapons, those challenges, whose effects are not limited to our continent, are driving increased efforts for cooperation and joint action between Africa and its partners. Success in combating such challenges is also closely linked to factors such as the strengthening of institutional and human capacities in the African Union and regional organizations, with the goal of achieving our shared objective of achieving peace and security on the continent and ensuring that the principle of African solutions to African problems can become a reality. The efforts that have been agreed on with a view to implementing the concept of sustaining peace and incorporating it into the work of both the United Nations and the African Union require that we sharpen our focus on the prevention of conflicts and on early warning and the peaceful settlement of disputes. That aspect is a major component of Africa’s peace and security architecture, through its Panel of the Wise and the Continental Early Warning System. We hope that cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union will win the support it needs to help strengthen African capacities in this area so as to implement the concept of sustaining peace. Tackling the real, underlying causes of conflicts is the simplest and least difficult way to settle them, in both human and economic terms, because economic development is so closely tied to respect for human rights, to strengthening good governance and to preventing conflicts. We can also not ignore its importance as a route to resolving conflicts on our continent through a comprehensive vision based on all the activities that I have just mentioned. Post-conflict reconstruction and development is one of the chief pathways enabling us to strengthen peace and security in our States by ensuring that countries emerging from conflict do not relapse into a vicious circle of violence. We must support efforts to build institutions in those countries, so that they can provide basic services, as the representative of Japan so eloquently said. We must support national reconciliation efforts, particularly those made through national and conventional mechanisms. The African Union has launched the African Solidarity Initiative, which is currently being fine-tuned to create an African Union Centre for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development in Cairo. We would like to see the United Nations play an active role in support of that initiative through assistance in setting it up and in supporting efforts to establish the Centre. The African Union has played a decisive role alongside regional groups in recent years aimed at strengthening peacekeeping operations on the African continent, in particular peace operations and efforts to fight terrorism, as well as action taken in dangerous circumstances that do not correspond to the conventional criteria for United Nations peacekeeping operations. I welcome the role played in that connection by the African Union as well as by regional groups. Their actions have been effective in tackling the challenges, the repercussions of which are not limited to the continent but spread to other parts of the world. It is clear that efforts to build the foundations for peace and security on the African continent will be successful only with the support of the African Union and regional groups aimed at carrying out those tasks, whether in the Lake Chad region, the Sahel, Somalia or elsewhere. At African Union summits in recent years, ambitious resolutions have been adopted to strengthen self-sufficiency in reinforcing African peace and security operations and to strengthen the Peace Fund as a component of the African Peace and Security Architecture. I would like to remind the Council of the importance of resolution 2320 (2016), as well as to direct the Council’s attention to alternatives cset out in the report of the Secretary General (S/2017/454) on supporting African peacekeeping operations and on the principle of using assessed contributions with a view to financing peacekeeping operations in Africa in a sustainable, flexible and predictable way. I would also like to refer to the role of women and young people in peace and security efforts in Africa. We must strengthen the contributions of those two groups in order to achieve peace and security on the continent. I once again thank the Chinese presidency of the Council for having given us this opportunity to have an exchange on this subject.

I thank our briefers. I also thank China for organizing this very important debate. Over the past couple of decades, a welcome shift has occurred in the international community’s relationship with Africa. The United States regards itself as a partner to Africa and looks to build on that relationship and strengthen it. In a relationship of equals, responsibility falls on both parties to contribute to solutions. We applaud and encourage the increasing leadership that the African Union and African Member States have exercised in contributing to peace operations and battling terrorist and insurgent groups. Today we reaffirm the African Union’s role as an indispensable partner to both the United States and the United Nations in promoting peace and security in Africa. But true progress cannot be achieved unless the efforts of the United Nations and others are accompanied by accountability on the part of the Governments involved in conflict. The developing famines in Africa are a tragic example of that. More than 14 million people are at risk of famine today in north-east Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan. That is a crisis that should be leading every newscast and should be on the front page of every newspaper. The United States will continue to lead in bringing together resources to overcome that crisis. On 8 July we announced an additional $446 million in humanitarian assistance to suffering people from South Sudan, Nigeria and Somalia, bringing the total for fiscal year 2017 to $1.4 billion. We thank all the donors and communities hosting displaced persons for their incredible generosity; but our ability to provide real relief is hampered by one inescapable fact: armed conflict is the primary cause of food insecurity in South Sudan, Nigeria and Somalia. Famine in Africa is an issue of peace and security. People are dying of hunger, not because of acts of God, but because of acts of man. It is the parties to those conflicts that bear direct responsibility. They are responsible for the lack of access to people in need of food, water and health services. They are responsible, as well, for the millions of refugees and internally displaced persons suffering in Africa today. More than half of the population in Somalia is in need of humanitarian assistance; but ongoing violence, including deliberate attacks on aid workers, is preventing people from getting the assistance they need. Al-Shabaab’s terrorist attacks, as well as logistical and administrative obstacles, are cutting off access to hard-hit rural areas. We urge the Federal Government of Somalia and the leadership of the interim federal member states of the country to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian goods. We also strongly call for an end to the use of illegal checkpoints by Government- affiliated entities. The man-made crisis in South Sudan has created the greatest number of refugees in Africa since the Rwandan genocide. The crisis would be much worse if it were not for neighbours like Uganda, which is taking in hundreds of South Sudanese every day. But the patience and generosity of humanitarians are being severely tested. Their efforts to lessen the suffering in South Sudan are being actively obstructed by the Government and other parties. Such famines are a sign of a collective failure, and any effective response must begin with the nations of Africa themselves. African Union (AU) member States must ramp up their response to this crisis. AU Commission Chair, Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, spoke for many of us when he said, “I cannot hide my deep frustration at the silence and inaction of Africans in the face of the terrible tragedy of famine in these regions.” We must continue to look for ways to bolster the capabilities of Member States to promote peace and security. The African Union must work with subregional organizations and individual States to confront peace and security challenges with one voice. African nations must also work constructively with the United Nations to address an underlying cause of the conflict that is driving the risk of famine in Africa. I have spoken many times about the relationship between human rights violations and conflict. To its credit, the African Union has established a Hybrid Court for South Sudan to investigate and prosecute individuals who have violated human rights laws during the conflict. The establishment of that Court and the message that it will send are important and necessary, if there is to be lasting peace in South Sudan. However, the commitment to promoting human rights must precede conflict and take precedence over politics in order to secure peace and security. When the nations of the Group of African States put forward a country like the Democratic Republic of the Congo to be a member of the Human Rights Council it does more than just weaken that body, it adds to the conflict that is causing so much suffering on the continent. This is a pivotal time for the Human Rights Council. It has the potential to be an asset to the men, women and children suffering in Africa today, but it can play that role only if its membership consists of nations committed to promoting and upholding universal human rights. That, in turn, depends upon African States putting forward credible candidates with strong human rights records. The nomination of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is an inexcusable failure of that process. My hope is that we can all summon the political will and courage to change the trajectory of the ongoing political and humanitarian crisis in Africa. Famine should not exist in 2017. Our duty is to hold those responsible to account. The United States will continue to do its part.

I shall now make a statement in my capacity as representative of China. China thanks Secretary-General Guterres and Mr. Chergui, the Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union (AU), for their briefings. We greatly appreciate their important efforts to promote capacity-building in the area of peace and security in Africa. The peace and security of the world constitute an indivisible whole. Enhancing African capacities in the areas of peace and security is in the interests of the entire international community and represents an important responsibility of the Security Council. In recent years, African countries have worked in unison to address African problems in African ways, thereby making great contributions to the maintenance of peace and security in the continent. The twenty- ninth AU Summit, which just concluded, decided to preserve the Union’s commitment to addressing the hotspot issues in Africa, to continue to enhance African capacities in peace and security, to reinforce Africa’s collective security mechanism and to improve the African peace and security framework. The Summit also reaffirmed the goal of silencing the guns by 2020. That important decision demonstrates to the international community Africa’s resolve to strive for peace and security, and represents an important contribution to international peace and security, for which China wishes to express its great appreciation. Africa is still confronted with multiple challenges in the areas of peace and security. Some countries of the region are still plagued by ongoing conflicts or political instability. Terrorist groups, such as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham and Al-Qaida, are infiltrating the heartland of the continent and are engaging in rampant terrorist activities in collusion with other terrorist organizations, such as Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab. Some African countries suffer from sluggish economic growth and are beset with problems of unemployment, poverty and refugees. In the face of those difficulties, Africa is not fully equipped for the tasks of conflict prevention and resolution and the maintenance of peace and security, and AU peace operations are constrained by inadequacies in financial resources, equipment, technology and management systems. The international community must vigorously help Africa solve those difficulties and support the continent in its capacity- building in the areas of peace and security. First, we need to continuously improve the cooperation partnership between the United Nations and the African Union, as well as other regional and subregional organizations. In recent years, the United Nations has carried out fruitful cooperation with the AU on the questions of Darfur, the Sudan, Somalia and Mali. In April this year, the two organizations signed the Joint United Nations- African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security so as to further strengthen their partnership in this area. We hope that the Joint Framework will be put into practice at an early date, and we support the United Nations in continuing, on the basis of full respect for the leadership of Africa in their efforts to address the continent’s security problems, to deepen coordination with the AU and other regional and subregional organizations, and to strengthen cooperation with Africa in conflict-prevention, crisis management and post-conflict reconstruction. The Security Council should increase communication and coordination with the AU Peace and Security Council, build mechanisms for joint planning, decision-making, assessment and briefings, jointly conduct work in the areas of early warning, strategic review, mandate design and deployment, and continuously improve cooperation. Secondly, we need to effectively support peace operations conducted by the AU, which represent an important means for responding to crises in the African continent and provide a welcome supplement to United Nations peacekeeping operations. The actions taken by the AU in Somalia, the Lake Chad basin and the Sahel have played an important role in addressing the crises there. However, AU peace operations are faced with difficulties in terms of personnel, funds and resources. Not long ago, the Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the AU Commission submitted their respective reports to the Security Council on support for AU peace operations, which called on the Council to consider models of United Nations financing of AU peace operations. China supports the United Nations in its efforts to give positive consideration to the proposals made by Africa and to provide adequate, stable and sustainable funds to AU peace operations through assistance aimed at helping them to establish a sustained, stable and predictable funding mechanism, so that AU peace operations can enhance their capacities in mandate designation, financing, mandate implementation and management. There is a need to help the AU speed up the building of a standby force, a rapid reaction force and an early-warning mechanism. We also need to deepen cooperation in military technology and expand the scope of military training. Thirdly, we need to support Africa in addressing the root causes of conflicts. Africa’s hotspots involve complex national, ethnic, religious and social tensions. It is therefore necessary to address both the symptoms and the root causes. While giving attention to the current problems of peace and security, we need also to work to eliminate the source of those problems, particularly by supporting Africa in its efforts to accelerate development and reduce poverty, thereby eliminating the breeding grounds for conflicts and extremism. The twenty-ninth AU Summit chose youth as its theme and focused on youth employment and poverty reduction. The international community should combine its efforts to help Africa implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with the Africa Union’s Agenda 2063; start working on infrastructure-building in the areas of medical care, education, the economy, trade and interconnectivity; and focus on addressing the problems facing Africa in such areas as youth, women and children, refugees and employment with a view to enhancing socioeconomic development in African countries. Fourthly, we need to keep strengthening United Nations peacekeeping efforts in Africa. Africa is the focus of the Security Council’s agenda and of United Nations peacekeeping operations. The United Nations peacekeeping operations in Africa must uphold the basic principles of peacekeeping, respect the sovereignty of host countries, take into account all factors, such as the practical needs of host countries, the security environment and the mandate’s goals, design well-targeted mandates for peacekeeping missions, and adjust the priorities and the focus of work for different phases. The Secretariat needs to take effective measures to improve its command system for peacekeeping operations in Africa; increase the efficiency of the missions; take measures to ensure the safety and security of peacekeepers; enhance early- warning capacity to deal with security threats; and provide adequate logistical guarantees. China has been a firm supporter of the efforts of African countries to address African issues in African ways. China has taken an active part in United Nations peacekeeping operations in Africa, with 2,600 peacekeepers currently serving in Africa. We have also participated actively in combating piracy and in escorting commercial ships off the coast of Somalia. In 2015, the China-Africa Cooperation Forum developed 10 major China-Africa cooperation plans, which cover economic and social development as well as peace and security. In the areas of peace and security, China will focus on enhancing Africa’s peacebuilding capacity, including supporting the establishment of a standby force and a rapid reaction force of Africa. Currently, the relevant work is well under way. The Belt and Road initiative proposed by China will help Africa realize its own development and solve the root causes of conflicts. China will uphold the idea of wide consultations, joint contribution and benefit-sharing, cooperate closely with African countries within the framework of the Belt and Road initiative, continue to help and support Africa in enhancing its capacity in peace and security, with a view to realizing an early settlement of the hotspot issues in Africa and achieving peace, stability and the development of the African continent. I now resume my functions as President of the Council. I would like to remind all speakers to limit their statements to no more than four minutes in order to enable the Council to conduct its work expeditiously. Delegations with lengthy statements are kindly requested to circulate their written text and to deliver a condensed version when speaking in the Chamber. I now give the floor to the representative of Peru.

My delegation thanks the People’s Republic of China for having convened today’s open debate, which provides an ideal opportunity to discuss the important and necessary need to enhance African capacities in the areas of peace and security. Similarly, my delegation thanks the Secretary- General and the African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security for their valuable contributions to today’s debate. Despite the progress achieved in strengthening democracy in Africa and the continent’s vast potential, its security is threatened by the presence of violent extremist groups, terrorism and transnational organized crime. In that regard, for many years the United Nations has been establishing regional offices and peacekeeping missions to address those threats. Peru is pleased to participate in that initiative by contributing military observers, administrative staff, officers and troops to five peacekeeping operations in Africa, including an engineering unit in the Central African Republic. In addition, the Organization has built strategic partnerships with various regional and subregional initiatives on the continent, which are all part of that joint effort, such as the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the Group of Five for the Sahel, the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the Mano River Union. Peru acknowledges and commends the leadership demonstrated by the African countries spearheading those initiatives, which has created a virtuous circle of cooperation and positive synergies at the global, regional and subregional levels and among the States involved. Since its establishment, in 2002, the African Union has played a fundamental role in maintaining peace and security in the region. Through its Peace and Security Council, it works to implement a common African defence and security policy and to establish the continent’s Peace and Security Architecture. In that regard, Peru welcomes the ever-closer relations and complementarity between the African Union and the United Nations, in particular with the signing in April of the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security. My country believes that the Council’s firm commitment to security is important, as it continues to supporting African countries in the fight against radical groups, as stipulated in resolution 2359 (2017), which authorizes the deployment of the Group of Five for the Sahel Joint Force to restore peace and security in the region. That measure seeks to combat the terrorist threat, transnational organized crime, trafficking in illicit weapons and drugs, and trafficking in persons. Peru believes that such schemes can also be used in other African subregions. Although the initiatives I mentioned are examples of the way in which joint efforts can help to combat threats to peace and security, many challenges remain. The establishment and renewal of peacekeeping mission mandates are opportunities for partnership with African countries and regional and subregional organizations, which should be analysed by all organizations concerned and equipped with the necessary resources. Similarly, acknowledging that peace and development are directly related, we feel that it is essential for the international community to take part in building the capacity of Governments so as to enable them to address the threats to peace and security in Africa, within the framework of what is referred to as sustaining peace. To that end, Peru underscores that several countries in the region have been implementing constitutional, institutional and political reforms. In conclusion, Peru acknowledges that States and African organizations are called upon to shoulder greater responsibilities in the joint endeavour of promoting peace and security in the continent. That will be possible only through close cooperation among the Security Council, United Nations agencies and the various African subregional and regional organizations in order to capitalize on each entity’s comparative advantage, based on the knowledge of the threats posed and unique circumstances on the ground.

I now give the floor to the representative of Brazil.

I thank you, Mr. President, for holding today’s important debate. Allow me to reiterate Brazil’s support for Africa, a continent with which we have a unique historic and cultural connection. It is also a region of strategic importance for us. Today Brazil maintains 39 diplomatic posts in Africa, which are a very important part of our global network of Embassies. Brazil has participated in United Nations efforts to promote peace in Africa from the outset, having contributed to the United Nations Emergency Force in Suez from 1956 to 1967, and to the United Nations Operation in the Congo from 1960 to 1964. Since then, Brazil has actively taken part in several United Nations peacekeeping operations in the continent. We have contributed troops to the United Nations Operation in Mozambique and to the third United Nations Angola Verification Mission. More recently, from 2013 to 2015, a Brazilian army officer, General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, was the Force Commander of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Today Brazil contributes military observers and staff officers to seven United Nations missions in Africa. We reiterate our willingness to continue supporting United Nations peacekeeping operations in Africa, now and in the future. In its capacity as Chair of the Guinea-Bissau country-specific configuration of the Peacebuilding Commission, Brazil also attaches great importance to close coordination with other African countries and institutions in supporting Guinea-Bissau in its efforts to achieve peace and prosperity. Bilaterally, Brazil is also involved in the enhancement of African capabilities with regard to peace and security. The Brazilian army now cooperates with Cape Verde, Mozambique, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, and South Africa. We are also starting a project in the predeployment training of peacekeepers with Ethiopia, while officers and other members of the armed forces from the region have graduated from Brazilian military academies. The Brazilian army is also involved in the triangular partnership project to train African military engineers to be deployed to peacekeeping missions. In Namibia, a Brazilian naval mission has contributed to the training of more than 2,000 members of the Namibian navy. In Cabo Verde, since 2013, and in Sao Tome and Principe, since 2015, we have maintained naval missions to identify possibilities for cooperation with those countries and to help train members of their navies. Brazil also conducts maritime exercises with African countries aimed at improving cooperation among participating nations. Allow me also to recall the zone of peace and cooperation in the South Atlantic, made up of 24 countries, including all of the countries situated on the West African coast, from Cape Verde and Senegal to South Africa, as well as Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Members of that zone have agreed to consolidate the region as one of peace and cooperation so as to ensure that it remains free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, as well as to respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of its countries. An innovative project is under way in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Through the practice of the Afro-Brazilian martial art of capoeira, Brazil has facilitated, in partnership with UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme and civil society, the social reintegration of children formerly linked to armed groups. We welcomed the adoption of resolution 2330 (2016) and look forward to the implementation of the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security. We support African Union initiatives aimed at dealing with crises and instability in Africa. The role of the African Union (AU) in Darfur, Mali, Somalia and the Central African Republic demonstrates the possibility of the positive impact of cooperation between the African Union and the United Nations. In discussing the United Nations-AU partnership, we should not avoid the question of adequate means for the implementation of increasingly complex tasks. On the one hand, peacekeeping mandates must be accompanied by the necessary resources, while, on the other hand, regional actors should spare no effort to progressively bring their troops to the level of United Nations principles and standards of performance. In that regard, we take note with interest of the proposals presented by Secretary-General Guterres concerning authorization and support for African Union operations, which deserve further discussion. We should concentrate on prevention and the peaceful settlement of African problems instead of focusing disproportionately on peacekeeping and military operations once a conflict has broken out. With regard to the provision of financial support to the African Union missions authorized by the Council, it is important that our discussions also be carried out in depth in the General Assembly. Brazil will continue to work closely with African countries within the multilateral and regional structures at its disposal for the promotion of peace and development.

I now give the floor to the representative of Pakistan.

We appreciate the initiative by your presidency, Sir, to organize this debate on peace and security in Africa. It is certainly encouraging that a permanent member of the Security Council has convened an open debate on a region that remains underrepresented in the Council, despite the fact that its peace and security continues to be the Council’s main preoccupation. We also thank the Secretary-General for his briefing and insightful remarks at the beginning of today’s debate. The Charter of the United Nations provides that, in matters pertaining to the maintenance of international peace and security, the Security Council acts on behalf of the General Assembly. It is therefore not just useful but also imperative for the Security Council to take into account the views of the general membership on those issues. Similarly, on regional peace and security, it only makes sense for the Council to listen closely to the opinions of Member States of the region concerned. After all, who can better understand the challenges faced by a region than the countries of that region themselves? Chapter VIII of the Charter therefore lays emphasis on a cooperative, interdependent and mutually reinforcing relationship between the United Nations and the relevant regional organizations. As the Secretary-General underlined this morning, that relationship should encompass prevention, mediation and the resolution of conflicts, as well as addressing the root causes of conflicts. The growing dialogue between the Security Council and the African Union (AU) aimed at developing better and more effective responses to peace and security issues in Africa is welcome. Resolution 2320 (2016), as well as regular consultative dialogues between members of the Council and the AU Peace and Security Council — the most recent one having taken place in May 2017 — are manifestations of that trend. Pakistan believes that the African Union is a critical link between the Council and the challenges being faced in Africa, especially on issues of peace and security. That linkage can be utilized through a strategic partnership between the two organizations. The partnership should be based on, inter alia, respective comparative advantage, burden-sharing and consultative decision-making, as identified in resolution 2320 (2016). If pursued with an objective approach, such a partnership can not only augment the ability of the Council to effectively meet its challenges, but also help enhance the capacity of the AU Peace and Security Council to shoulder more responsibilities for peace and security in Africa. We urge the Council to consider investing more financial and capacity-building resources in the enhancement of the AU’s capabilities, especially in peacekeeping missions mandated by the Security Council itself. That support needs to be flexible, sustainable and predictable. Pakistan also welcomed the Joint United Nations- African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, signed in April, between the Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the AU Commission. We hope that the themes identified for cooperation, as well as the mechanisms set out for operationalizing those themes, will provide a good basis for further collaboration between the two organizations. As one of the top troop-contributors to United Nations peacekeeping, Pakistan and its security personnel have contributed to many of the success stories in Africa, from Liberia to Sierra Leone. Our well-trained and professional peacekeepers have protected civilians, provided much-needed medical care and rebuilt lives and countries. They have worked in difficult and, at times, dangerous circumstances, but have never shied away from fulfilling their mandate. I must say, however, that our voice has remained either unsolicited or unheard when major decisions were made with regard to new deployments, crafting mandates, devising strategies pertaining to regional and trilateral cooperation and many of the other issues directly affecting our troops. That silo culture must change, if we want to make peacekeeping work at its optimum capacity. We also believe that the flawed notion of doing more with less should be seriously revisited, because erratic budget cuts will undermine and not advance peacekeeping in Africa. The Security Council’s consultative dialogues with regional organizations are a useful tool for the Council in its efforts to develop regional partnerships so as to address relevant issues of peace and security, just as we have seen in the case of the Council’s dialogue with the AU Peace and Security Council. Those tools are of pivotal importance if unburdened from issues that go beyond the purview of regional problems. Therefore, in order to be of optimal use, those dialogues must continue to focus on practical approaches to the resolution of issues that are exclusively regional in nature. It is important to ensure that valuable time and effort are dedicated to finding pragmatic and durable solutions.

I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. João Pedro Vale de Almeida, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations. Mr. Vale de Almeida: I have the pleasure to speak on behalf of the European Union and its member States. The following countries align themselves with this statement: the candidate countries Turkey, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania; the country of the Stabilization and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina; as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. As close neighbours, Europe and Africa share a common future. Never before have the European Union’s interests been so intertwined with Africa’s. The direct connection between Libya and the Sahel and between the Horn of Africa and the Gulf, the Great Lakes and Southern Africa, call for a more strategic approach, while going beyond established formats. We thank the presidency for organizing today’s debate. This is an opportune moment to revisit our engagement and explore further avenues so as to better adapt the partnerships between the United Nations, the African Union and the European Union to the new threats and challenges faced by Africa. The partnership between the European Union and Africa encompasses many aspects and many actions, at the continental, regional, subregional or local levels. Allow me to focus today, as we have been invited to do in the concept note (S/2017/574, annex), on the ways in which the international community can best support the African Union. At the political level, we welcome the strong signal of commitment conveyed by the recent signing of the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security. The 26 May report of the Secretary-General on options for authorization and support for African Union peace support operations (S/2017/454), and the accompanying update from the African Union, are also very good demonstrations of how cooperation and coordination between the United Nations and the AU are being strengthened in a sustained manner. But the report also sheds additional light on how the two organizations can best work together. It puts forward concrete proposals for joint assessments of the political, security, humanitarian and human rights dimensions of missions from the outset, as well as on the comparative advantage of the African Union and the roles of other partners. Similarly, it details how institutionalized approaches to joint planning, mandating and financing could look. The European Union is already cooperating closely with the United Nations in all EU Common Security and Defence Policy missions. The EU and the United Nations are also working on joint programming and coordination mechanisms in support, for example, of security sector reform and the rule of law in the Central African Republic, and starting pilot projects in Mali and Somalia. Expanding this logic, such initiatives could be widened to include the African Union in a trilateral cooperation set-up. The EU stands ready to identify, together with the United Nations and the AU, areas to be addressed and deepen complementarity and synergies among all stakeholders. In this context, one of the proposals discussed with the AU and the regional economic communities and regional mechanisms during the recent senior officials meeting held in Addis on 5 July was to establish a collaborative platform to facilitate the sharing of information and to enhance operational cooperation among the EU, AU and the United Nations. More concrete suggestions on what this might look like are expected in the lead-up to the fifth African Union-EU Summit, which will take place in the fall in the Côte D’Ivoire. The Secretary-General’s report also highlights the importance of compliance and oversight, particularly in the areas of human rights and conduct and discipline. These are critical concerns in all peace operations. We welcome the African Union’s efforts to put in place effective mechanisms to ensure respect human rights in all of its missions and encourage further progress in their implementation. Joint standards for reporting, accountability and protection are critical to ensuring the highest standards and robust oversight of missions. Allow me to say a few words on funding. Diversification of funding is critical. The African Union and the continent have shown a strong sign of ambition and ownership with the important decision taken by the AU Summit in Kigali in July 2016 to finance the African Union Peace Fund. We welcome the significant steps since taken, under the leadership of Mr. Kaberuka, to ensure the financing of 25 per cent of the African Union peace support operations budget by 2020. We encourage further sustained progress in this regard. We are ready to continue to look at how the EU, together with the United Nations and the African Union, could contribute to progress in the discussion on sustainable financing and the division of labour for African peacekeeping. All these issues require further debate and further joint work, which are also in line with the call by the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, to have the United Nations embrace a future role of not only working alongside regional organizations but also enabling them to share the burden in peace and security matters, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. We look forward to the upcoming fifth AU-EU Summit in Abidjan in the fall. It will be an important moment to build on the results already achieved by the partnerships with the United Nations and the AU by emphasizing the importance of an equal, sustainable and mutually beneficial relationship with Africa in a spirit of shared ownership and responsibility, and guided notably by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the African Union Agenda 2063, and the European Union Global Strategy and European Consensus on Development.

I now give the floor to the representative of Algeria.

At the outset, I would like to reiterate my congratulations to the friendly People’s Republic of China on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for this month. We wish you every success in implementing your mandate, Sir. The choice of today’s open debate is commendable, as are the efforts made in the preparation and circulation of the concept note (S/2017/574, annex). We would like to commend the Secretary-General for his briefing, as well as the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Peace and Security for his valuable intervention and the very precise and central points he shared with us today on this important subject. Peace and Security in Africa, as well as its economic, social and cultural development, are among my country’s priorities. My country places peace and security in the African continent at the centre of its international policy. This commitment is translated through concrete actions, in particular in the area of conflict resolution. His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in his capacity as Coordinator of the African Union for counter-terrorism and violent extremism, presented to the latest Summit a memorandum on the African counter-terrorism strategy, which was introduced on his behalf by our Prime Minister. The memorandum, which will serve as a road map for the continental organization in the context of the fight against terrorism, was unanimously adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the 55 States members of the African Union. Based on its long-standing experience in the field of mediation, Algeria’s contribution to peace in its neighboring countries is also foreseen in the cases of Mali, Libya and the Western Sahara, as well as in its cooperation and coordination with the countries of the Sahel and beyond. As reaffirmed at the latest Summit of the African Union, held earlier this year in Addis Ababa by the Heads of State and Government of its member States, finding lasting and durable African solutions to African problems and conflicts is a core principle of the African Union. In this regard, many bold initiatives and actions are undertaken to uphold the continent’s peace, security and development. Agenda 2063, silencing the guns by 2020, countering terrorism and violent extremism, and the completion of the decolonization process in the continent, among other things, are but a few examples of the many commitments decided together at the level of the Heads of State and Government of the 55 African countries. As we live in an interconnected world, it is obvious that Africa’s contribution to its own security and prosperity is also a contribution to the larger world peace and prosperity. To that end, cooperation with the United Nations and with regional and subregional partners of Africa is of paramount importance. In this regard, we would like to commend the holding of the first annual African Union-United Nations Conference, on 19 April, as well as the conclusion of the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, which states, inter alia, that “the United Nations and the African Union have strongly endorsed closer cooperation and coordination in peace and security”, and that both the Security Council and the African Union have stated the need to transform the partnership between the two organizations into one that is predictable, systematic and strategic. In reality, these latest developments in the relation between the intergovernmental bodies, based on the provisions of Article VIII of the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitutive Act of the African Union, are but a step forward building on previous realizations in this regard. It is worth recalling that the very first resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations is the one adopted in 1963 on cooperation with the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and that many peace processes for conflict resolution in Africa conducted by the United Nations were possible because of the contribution of the African Union-OAU, as shown by many examples. The AU Peace and Security Council, at its 689th meeting held on 30 May, adopted a decision in which it recalled its earlier decisions on the partnership between the African Union and the United Nations in the area of peace and security, including the financing of AU- mandated or -authorized peace support operations undertaken with the authorization of the Security Council. In this decision, the Peace and Security Council recalled also the communiqué that was adopted at its 547th meeting, held in New York on 26 September 2015, which welcomed the modalities proposed by the Chairperson of the Commission on the follow-up steps on the African common position on the review of United Nations peace operations for the provision of United Nations assessed contributions to African Union-mandated or -authorized peace support operations, and agreed that the operationalization of the proposed arrangements for the financing of AU-led peace support operations undertaken with the authorization of the Security Council should be predicated on the following: first, African ownership, as a key factor to the success of peace efforts on the continent; second, reaffirmation of the primary role of the Security Council in the maintenance of international peace and security and of the role of regional arrangements as elaborated in Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations; third, acknowledgment that support by the United Nations to regional organizations in matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security is an integral part of collective security as provided for in the Charter of the United Nations; fourth, enhanced strategic partnership with the United Nations, including the development of a framework outlining the steps necessary to activate authorization by the Security Council of AU-led missions to be supported by United Nations assessed contributions; fifth, strengthening the AU’s capacity to plan and manage peace support operations; sixth, the enhancement of AU financial oversight mechanisms; and seventh, the strengthening of the AU’s human rights due-diligence capabilities, including preventing and combating sexual exploitation and abuses in AU-led peace support operations. My delegation believes that those core points constitute a strong basis for a partnership relation between the two organizations. In conclusion, we would also like to suggest the following. First, any selective approach in areas of cooperation and coordination between the United Nations and the AU for any question that is related to Africa should be abandoned. Secondly, this suggestion applies also to the annual meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council and the Security Council on the decision-making related to the agenda of consultations. Thirdly, a continuous process of association of the African Union to consultations on any document or action on African issues to be taken by the Security Council or by other United Nations organs should be established. Fourthly, cooperation should be enhanced in the field of training, technology transfers, science and innovation, especially as the African continent has the greatest demographic potential. Finally, Africa deserves a place in the permanent category of Security Council membership, given the current geopolitical realities in terms of its numerical strength, growing economic power, demographic dynamics and growing role in multilateral forums.

I now give the floor to the representative of Indonesia.

We would like to thank you, Mr. President, for convening this open debate on a very important topic. We also would like to thank the Secretary-General and the Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union for their briefings. Indonesia associates itself with the statement to be made by the representative of Venezuela on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement. Indonesia has been with Africa since the beginning. Since the Asian-African Conference in Bandung held over six decades ago in 1955, Indonesia and Africa have been together to achieve equality among all nations and spur independence. With a strong sense of global morality and ethics, Indonesia and Africa have worked hard to establish higher ideals within their countries, as well as to strengthen historic bonds between them. As a follow-up, with South Africa, Indonesia initiated the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership in 2005 to accelerate cooperation in politics, the economy and socio-culture. This cooperation was reinforced in 2015, and it is being implemented through many multi-faceted bilateral support projects in both Indonesia and Africa. At the same time, we are also undertaking South-South and triangular cooperation as platforms to promote cooperation particularly in the area of capacity-building and technical cooperation. We are clear that African development must take place without causing any harm to Africa. Guided by that, Indonesia will focus even more on Africa to realize mutually beneficial outcomes in economic development. Nationally, as well as through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, we are ready to play a greater role to help sustain peace efforts in Africa. This is in addition to our contribution to United Nations peacekeeping in Africa, where almost 2,000 Indonesian peacekeeping troops and police are already participating in eight United Nations peacekeeping operations there. Indeed, many African countries confront serious peace, security and governance issues. We commend the increasingly important role of the African Union as a strong and principled force for dialogue, peaceful conflict resolution and cordial relations among African countries. Indonesia fully supports the AU Agenda 2063 with its key pillars of a conflict-free Africa, as well as the five thematic priorities of the African Union road map (2016-2020). The commitment by African leaders to finance 25 per cent of the cost of AU peace support operations is another concrete sign of their determination to build sustainable peace. Yet the challenges — ranging from counter- terrorism, peacebuilding, sustaining peace and political processes to poverty, climate change, capacity-building and governance — cannot all be met properly without adequate and predictable financing, hence the need for international cooperation. Today’s question of how to enhance peace and security capacities of Africa cannot be answered without spelling out how the needed financial and political support will be provided. Indonesia is therefore pleased that resolution 2320 (2016) and the subsequent report of the Secretary- General (S/2017/454) on options for authorization and support for AU peace support operations have underlined, among others, adequate and predictable finances. Responding to the proposals by the High Representative for the AU Peace Fund, the report of the Secretary-General points to five financing models and various decision-making options to support AU-initiated peace support operations. The report also recognizes rightly that each situation may warrant its own particular solution. It is important now that the report be examined by the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, along with the Fifth Committee and the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, so that the General Assembly can offer a comprehensive response. Indonesia stands fully behind the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, which was signed in April. It is vital that all United Nations entities, along with Member States, play their role to help make it a success. Just as ownership, collaboration and cooperation by all national and relevant external stakeholders are essential for the success of sustaining peace in a country, all United Nations and relevant non-United Nations actors must develop synergies around the three United Nations pillars in order to keep the promise to Africa. For its part, Indonesia will continue to work actively in all United Nations and non-United Nations forums to ensure that robust support is extended to Africa. As an example of that work, in the recent Group of 20 forum in Hamburg, Germany, President Widodo stated that Indonesia will host the Indonesia-Africa Forum in 2018 as a platform to promote equal partnership and greater cooperation with Africa. Indonesia’s President’s statement is clear: “Africa, you will never walk alone and we shall move forward with Africa”.

I now give the floor to the representative of Turkey.

We thank China for organizing today’s meeting. Africa plays an important role in maintaining peace and promoting development. However, serious challenges to lasting peace and security in the continent persist. Sustaining peace and security in Africa requires strong cooperation and coordination among local, national and international actors. That is essential for ensuring collective security. In that regard, we take note of resolution 2320 (2016) and the Security Council’s intention to take further steps to enhance the relationship between the United Nations and the African Union (AU). Likewise, we welcome the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, which was signed in April. Turkey believes that peace and security are instrumental for development. In that vein, Turkey supports the African strategy to end all wars in the continent by 2020 as outlined in the Silence the Guns initiative. Furthermore, we value the central role of the African Peace and Security Architecture and the African Governance Structure in promoting peace, security and stability. African Union-led peace operations are critical initiatives to address crises in Africa. Turkey contributes to the efforts of those operations, such as the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur. As a strategic partner of the continent since 2008, Turkey has tried to assist its African friends in their quest for ensuring peace, security and stability. While doing so, we have attached importance to regional ownership. In line with the principle of African solutions to African problems, Turkey has contributed to the development of the security capacities of African countries, based on the needs and requests of its partners. We pursue a comprehensive and holistic approach that takes into account peacebuilding, development, and humanitarian dimensions of international assistance, including through our diplomatic network of approximately 40 embassies across the continent. In the peace and security sector, Turkey’s assistance and partnership with the African Union and African States are manifold. Turkey has been providing financial assistance to the African Union, including in the field of security, since 2009. In the past decade, Turkey provided over $4 million to AMISOM, the East African Standby Force and the African Peace and Security Architecture. The Turkish National Police helps to build structural and operational capacities of security institutions through bilateral programs. As a co-Chair of the Horn of Africa Working Group of the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum, Turkey has led a series of bilateral efforts aimed at capacity-building in the field of security and counter-terrorism in the region. In Somalia, we have been carrying out a large-scale project since 2014 in Mogadishu for the reconstruction of the Somali National Army. The Anatolia-Somalia Joint Military Training Centre is expected to become operational by September. Conflict prevention and mediation are also important aspects of Turkey’s engagement with Africa. In our efforts to address the root causes of conflicts, Turkey has been collaborating with the African Union Commission and African partners to realize projects in the fields of trade, rural development, rule of law, infrastructure, health and education. In our approach, we recognize that stabilization and development efforts in Africa cannot succeed if women and youth lack security and access to political, economic, social and judicial resources. In that context, we promote increased political and social partnership, as well as the economic empowerment of women and youth. In response to recent waves of drought and climate events in sub-Saharan Africa, we have launched nation-wide donation campaigns for assistance. As the Chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Summit, we took the initiative to raise awareness for development and humanitarian assistance efforts for East Africa. Implementing the “New Way or Working”, which aligns with Turkey’s development-oriented humanitarian assistance, is vital in order to reach collective outcomes, while also building resilience and ending need. Turkey will continue to do its utmost to contribute to peace and security in Africa. We will also constructively participate in the international and regional initiatives to that end.

I now give the floor to the representative of Estonia.

Estonia aligns itself with the statement delivered by the observer of the European Union. First, we would like to thank the Chinese presidency for convening today’s open debate. We welcome the efforts of the African Union (AU) to respond effectively to conflicts and crises in Africa. A lot has been achieved but a lot remains to be done. The international community’s role and support in that regard are vital. We welcome the signing of the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, which took place in April. We also commend the African Union Assembly decision from January 2015 to fund 25 per cent of AU peace-support operations, as well as the subsequent AU Assembly decision to operationalize the AU Peace Fund. Furthermore, the AU Master Roadmap of Practical Steps to Silence the Guns in Africa by 2020 is a welcome step forward. It is now crucial to implement all of those important decisions. In order to silence the guns in Africa, it is imperative to address the root causes of conflict. The AU Agenda 2063 identifies democratic deficit and weak governance as the root causes of conflict and impediments to sustainable development in Africa. Forging synergies between governance and peace and security is crucial in order to address conflicts in a holistic manner. We welcome the African efforts on concrete structural conflict prevention initiatives, early warning, mediation, and preventive diplomacy. We encourage further efforts to that end. We believe that one of the most important guarantees for the world’s sustainable development and the expansion of the influence of democracy and rule of law is mainstreaming gender equality to all areas of life. Women can play a key role in conflict prevention and resolution, peace negotiations and peacebuilding, as well in post-conflict reconstruction. Furthermore, the AU theme for 2017 is “Harnessing the demographic dividend through investments in the youth”, and 2018-27 was just declared the African Decade for Technical, Professional, Entrepreneurial Training and Youth Employment. Africa is the youngest continent on Earth and creating enabling conditions, jobs, education, and the rule of law for young people at home will play a crucial role in silencing the guns in Africa. Estonia stands ready to work with all partners to enhance capacities and work on solutions, including in the digital sphere for conflict prevention and good governance. That is also something we prioritize in our quest to become a non-permanent member of the Security Council in 2020-2021. Since we celebrated Nelson Mandela International Day yesterday, let me finish my intervention with a quote from him: “It is easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build.” That is something that we, as the international community, should always keep in mind.

There are still a number of speakers remaining on my list. Given the lateness of the hour, I intend, with the consent of the members of the Security Council, to suspend the meeing until 3 p.m.