UN / AFRICAN UNION COOPERATION

The UN Special Representative to the African Union told the Security Council that the “complex” peace and security challenges in Africa cannot be addressed by the UN or the AU alone adding that partnership is “not a choice but a necessity.” UNIFEED

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:55
• Production Date: 18 July 2018
• Asset Language: English; French
• Corporate Name: AFRICAN UNION - AU
• Subject Topical: COOPERATION; PEACE AND SECURITY
• Geographic Subject: AFRICA
• MAMS Id: 2203282
• Parent Id: 2203282
• Alternate Title: unifeed180718d

Description

STORY: UN / AFRICAN UNION COOPERATION
TRT: 01:55
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 18 JULY 2018, NEW YORK CITY

Shotlist

FILE - NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior

18 JULY 2018, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sahle-Work Zewde, Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union:
“The complex peace and security challenges we face in Africa are such that neither the United Nations nor the African Union can address the challenges on their own. Partnership is therefore not a choice but a necessity. The two organizations recognize their inter-dependence.”
4. Wide shot, Zwede addressing the Council
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Sahle-Work Zewde, Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union:
“We must also engage more actively with those who have an influence on the parties to conflict, the neighbouring countries and regional community. We must continue to concentrate on dedicating resources to peacekeeping and conflict prevention, and notably in identifying and dealing with the root-causes of conflict.”
6. Med shot, delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Smaïl Chergui, Commissioner for Peace and Security, African Union:
“In Somalia, resource mobilization to enable AMISOM to deliver on its mandate including the gradual handover to the Somali security forces through the Somali Transition Plan and capacity building remain a critical challenge. If not addressed, the gains made in Somalia might be reversed.”
8. Med shot, delegates
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Smaïl Chergui, Commissioner for Peace and Security, African Union:
“The situation across the Sahel region also requires our urgent attention. The instability in Northern Mali has not only spilled over to the central region of the country, and to the neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger; it has also morphed into generated inter-community clashes spurred by the conflict between herders and farmers. Critical support from the United Nations is, therefore, required to hasten the operationalization of the G5 Sahel Joint Force.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council

Storyline

The UN Special Representative to the African Union told the Security Council that the “complex” peace and security challenges in Africa cannot be addressed by the UN or the AU alone adding that partnership is “not a choice but a necessity.”

Addressing the Council today (18 Jul), Sahle-Work Zewde said, as a regional organization, the African Union was the UN’s most important strategic partner in peace and security, development and human rights. She said the partnership between the two was based on mutual respect and shared values, and was characterized by close collaboration and coordinated action.

Zwede said the increasing use of joint mission by the UN and the AU illustrated the progress made towards a common understanding of the issues of peace and security and a common approach to solving them. She said the two organizations must engage more actively “with those who have an influence on the parties to conflict, the neighbouring countries and regional community”, and continue to concentrate on dedicating resources to peacekeeping and conflict prevention, “notably in identifying and dealing with the root-causes of conflict.”

AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Smaïl Chergui said the second AU-UN annual conference that took place in Addis Ababa last week reaffirmed the importance of the partnership between the AU and the UN. He said the partnership between the two was manifest in collaborative peace-making efforts in several conflict and post-conflict situations, including the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Great Lakes region, Mali and the Sahel, among others.

Chergui said despite progress made, some challenges remained, particularly in the relationship between the AU Peace and Security Council and the UN Security Council where more work was needed in order to achieve greater coherence and coordination when dealing with crisis situations on the continent.

The AU Commissioner for Peace and Security said resource mobilization for AMISOM in Somalia remained a “critical challenge”, adding that, if it was not address, the gains made in the country “might be reversed.”

Chergui said the situation across the Sahel region also required urgent attention. He noted that the instability in Northern Mali “has not only spilled over to the central region of the country, and to the neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger; it has also morphed into generated inter-community clashes spurred by the conflict between herders and farmers.” He said critical support from the United Nations was required to “hasten the operationalization of the G5 Sahel Joint Force.”

Chergui stressed that joint UN-AU efforts were already bearing fruits and looked forward to building a closer relationship that would deliver on the aspirations for peace and security on the continent.