7816th Security Council Meeting: UN, Regional and Sub-regional Cooperation

The Security Council unanimously adopts resolution 2320 (2016), following a debate on modalities of stronger cooperation on peace and security between the United Nations and the African Union, at 7816th meeting.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Security Council
• Video Length: 03:01:20
• Production Date: 18 November 2016
• Asset Language: Arabic; Chinese; English; French; Russian; Spanish
• Personal Subject: MANKEUR NDIAYE
• Corporate Name: AFRICAN UNION - AU
• Subject Topical: COOPERATION; PARTNERSHIP; PEACE AND SECURITY; ECONOMIC COOPERATION; PEACE PROCESS; FINANCING
• Geographic Subject: AFRICA
• MAMS Id: 1778609
• Parent Id: 1777882

Description

Unanimously adopting resolution 2320 (2016), the Council expressed its readiness to consider options in response to the African Union’s proposal to finance 25 per cent of the cost of such operations by 2020. The Council emphasized that consultative analysis and joint planning with the United Nations was critical to developing common joint recommendations on the scope and resource implications of the missions.

By that text, the Council also expressed support for the principles of cooperation set out by the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations for the strategic partnership with the African Union. In addition, it encouraged the African Union to finalize its disciplinary and conduct-compliance frameworks and to achieve greater accountability, transparency and compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law.

Speaking in explanation of position, Egypt’s representative called for a swift discussion within the African Union to set the modalities of support to its peace operations so that the United Nations could respond appropriately. The Russian Federation’s representative expressed regret that the text lacked a commitment to the universal principles of peacekeeping. That absence could result in the door being opened to those principles being breached, he cautioned, adding that the lack of consultation with all Council members was regrettable.

Before it adopted the text, the Council heard briefings delivered by El-Ghassim Wane, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Smaïl Chergui, African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security, Haile Menkerios, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative to the African Union, and Donald Kaberuka, High Representative of the African Union Peace Fund.

The briefers noted the growing cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union in operations that ranged from early response to sustained peacekeeping. They called for strengthening the relationship in order to help face the increased complexity of African conflicts.

“In doing that”, Mr. Wane said, “we ought to be “pragmatic and result-oriented, driven by the imperative to respond to the needs on the ground, assist countries and shattered communities to turn the page from violence and conflict and consolidate peace where it is achieved.”

For that purpose, he said, in addition to mutual work in a range of areas, it was necessary to ensure predictable, flexible and sustainable financing for African operations authorized by the Security Council. He noted that the Secretary-General had commended the African Union’s commitment to self-reliance in the form of the proposal to finance 25 per cent of future peace support operations. The Secretary-General had also urged Member States to give urgent consideration to how the United Nations could respond to that initiative. Today’s debate is an opportunity to initiate a response.

Mr. Antonio said the African Union’s proven ability to act as first responder was a critical element of the evolving international peace and security architecture. The bloc and its subregional organizations had a clear comparative advantage where operations were needed and the United Nations was unable to deploy in a timely manner or unable to mobilize political consensus. In that vein, the African Union had deployed missions to Burundi, Darfur, Somalia, Mali and the Central African Republic. However, African missions were not sustainable over the medium to long term because sufficient means were lacking.

Mr. Menkerios said that, instead of engaging in a series of ad-hoc engagements, the two organizations needed to adopt predictable processes to address threats to international peace and security on the continent. The wheel should not have to be reinvented every time a new conflict in Africa emerged, he stated.

Mr. Kaberuka highlighted the work on the part of both the African Union and the United Nations that would have to be done under the cost-sharing proposal, including defining what a 25 per cent contribution would imply and under what conditions the 75 per cent United Nations contribution would be engaged.

During the ensuing debate, Council members welcomed efforts to strengthen strategic cooperation with the African Union in peace and security under the Charter’s Chapter VIII, and commended the African Union for shouldering increased responsibilities for the continent’s peace and security.

Most speakers fully supported adoption of the resolution and called for intensified consideration of the financing structure in order to ensure that authorized African operations were sustainable.

The Head of the European Union delegation outlined that bloc’s support in that area, calling the proposal for 25 per cent funding a sign of “strong ambition and ownership by the continent”. The Foreign Minister of Senegal, which holds the Council Presidency for November, said he hoped the resolution would provide a foundation for settling the financing issue once and for all.

The representative of the Russian Federation however, stressed that consideration of financing from assessed contributions, in response to the African Union’s proposals, fell under the purview of the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), whose area of expertise should not be usurped by the Security Council.

In additional to sustainable financing, speakers also called for the development of common analysis activities to be conducted by the two organizations, increased engagement between officials at all levels, up-front mission planning, joint visiting missions and mutual standards in codes of conduct, environmental issues and other areas.

While most delegates acknowledged increased mutual engagement between the United Nations and the African Union, Venezuela’s representative underscored his regret that African input to decisions regarding the continent had frequently been ignored. He called for meaningful consultation at every stage of formulating response to conflicts.

Also speaking in the debate were representatives of New Zealand, United States, China, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Japan, Ukraine, Egypt, Uruguay and Malaysia.

The meeting began at 10:10 a.m., ending at 1:10 p.m.