Peace and Security in Africa - Security Council…

African Union-led peace support operations need predictable, adequate and sustainable support in light of a demonstrably inadequate current international peace architecture, senior officials from both the United Nations and the African Union told the Council today, as members discussed how best to leverage the latter organization’s regional expertise to address current and future crises in a context-specific manner.

Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, noted recent efforts by the United Nations and the African Union to support the restoration of constitutional order in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.  

Underlining the pressing need to “put AU peace operations on solid footing”, she observed that, in Africa and elsewhere, rising insecurity is characterized by an increased use of asymmetric and sophisticated tactics by armed groups and the expanding influence of transnational organized crime. 

Bankole Adeoye, African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, also underlining the need for assessed contributions, cited the African Union’s adoption of a consensus paper on predictable, adequate and sustainable financing.

Ongoing crises in Somalia, the Lake Chad Basin, the Sahel, the Great Lakes and Mozambique provide the world with valuable lessons on the inadequacy of the current international peace architecture, he pointed out.  

Meanwhile, Bitania Tadesse, Program Director of Amani Africa, said that the subject of this session is not about money.  Rather, it is first and foremost about which arrangement that can best save “succeeding generations from the scourge of war” when existing tools for delivering on this promise have been found wanting.  

In the ensuing debate, many Council members stressed the importance of peacekeeping missions in Africa and urged that such efforts enjoy predictable funding so they can fulfil their mandates.

The meeting began at 10:03 a.m. and ended at 12:49 p.m.