Peace & Security In Africa - UNSC Satement On Capability Building

Peace and Security in Africa - Satement On Capability Building 

UN Security Council Distr.: General 31 August 2022

Agreed Unanimously by the Council.

Original: English 22-21221 (E) 020922 *2221221* 

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Statement by the President of the Security Council

At the 9122nd meeting of the Security Council, held on 31 August 2022, in connection with the Council’s consideration of the item entitled “Peace and security in Africa”, the President of the Security Council made the following statement on behalf of the Council:

“The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence of all States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principle of good neighbourliness, non-interference and regional cooperation.

“The Security Council welcomes the progress made by African countries, the African Union and subregional organizations in conflict prevention, peacemaking, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and development, calls for intensified efforts, support and more coordinated approach among all relevant partners, in particular through enhanced efforts to improve capacity building, in addressing these challenges.

“The Security Council recognizes the need to step up capacity-building support to African countries in a comprehensive, inclusive, adaptive and targeted manner, with measures tailored to the specific conditions of each country and region, and emphasizes the importance of respecting the ownership and leadership of African countries in this regard.

“The Security Council emphasizes the importance of providing capacity support, at the request of and in close consultation with the country in question and with full respect for international law, to improve the rule of law, strengthen national institutions, extend legitimate State authority, build governance, promote and protect human rights, enhance social cohesion and inclusiveness, and promote sustainable development so as to ensure that no one is left behind.

“The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and the inclusion of youth in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, and in all stages of peace, security, development and decision making processes.

“The Security Council stresses the need of sharing best practices and providing financial support on promoting inclusive and effective disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes (DDR) including those related to the release and reintegration of children formerly associated with armed forces or armed groups, and reforming the security sector in post conflict environments for the consolidation of peace, stability, and common security, recognizes in this S/PRST/2022/6 2/5 22-21221 regard the importance of accessible law-enforcement and justice sectors and strengthened support when requested, including through offering professional training for law-enforcement personnel. The Security Council reiterates its support to the African Union’s “Silencing the Guns in Africa” initiative, and encourages support of capacity building and training in this regard.

“The Security Council reiterates its support for the work of the Peacebuilding Commission, acknowledges the importance of strong coordination, coherence and cooperation with the Peacebuilding Commission and commends the Peacebuilding Commission continued engagement with the countries and regions in Africa in enhancing capacity in the areas of inclusive peacebuilding, socio-economic development, DDR; Security Sector Reform (SSR) and institutions of justice and national reconciliation in line with national peacebuilding priorities, emphasizes such engagement should continue to be guided by the principles of national ownership and meaningful partnerships with

sub-regional and regional organizations, and all effort must be put to ensure these projects, while complementing Peacebuilding Fund activities, are appropriately financed and judiciously utilized to ensure sustainability and optimal benefit to the local communities.

“The Security Council while underlining the need of effective implementation of its sanctions measures as a tool for achieving peace an d stability in Africa, expresses its readiness to review, adjust and terminate, when appropriate, its sanctions regimes taking into account the evolution of the situation on the ground and the need to minimize unintended adverse humanitarian effects.

“The Security Council notes with great concern the multidimensional impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on African countries, including significant impacts on poverty, food security, unemployment, trade, disrupted supply chains, tourism and financial flows, as well as its socioeconomic impacts, especially on women and girls, and recognizes the great efforts made by African countries and the leadership of the African Union in combating the COVID-19 pandemic to save lives and achieve sustainable and inclusive recovery, “The Security Council stresses the need for greater support to African countries, especially those affected by armed conflicts, and regional and sub - regional organizations, in order to recover from the pandemic and build back better, including through providing necessary medical supplies, including safe and efficacious tests, treatments and vaccines and supporting African countries in strengthening their health systems, and calls upon vaccine producing countries especially developed economies and the private sector to facilitate expedited access by Africa to vaccines including by encouraging voluntary technology transfer on mutually agreed terms.

“The Security Council reaffirms that development, peace and security, and human rights are interlinked and mutually reinforcing and recognizes that there can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development, encourages global partnership to accelerate implementation of Agenda 2063 of the AU, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the UN and the African Continental Free Trade Area, reaffirms the importance of aligning international support with Africa’s own priorities, welcomes the various important initiatives established between African countries and their bilateral and multilateral partners, and emphasizes the need for their effective implementation to achieve stronger global development.

S/PRST/2022/6 22-21221 3/5 “The Security Council recalls the link between armed conflict and violence and conflict-induced food insecurity and the threat of famine, stresses the importance of sustainable food systems and increasing local food production capacity to enhance food security and nutrition in Africa, including through exchanges of agricultural experts, establishing agricultural demonstration centers, supporting agricultural technologies, investing in African agricultural startups, supporting family farmers through education, vocational training or extension services, and assisting the construction of agricultural and transportation infrastructure, with an aim to build a comprehensive and sound food system covering all areas of breeding, planting, processing, storage and logistics.

“The Security Council underlines the importance of supporting socioeconomic development for sustaining peace in Africa through economic development including through transnational and trans-regional infrastructure development, industrialization, poverty eradication, job creation, agricultural modernization and promotion of entrepreneurship, and expresses the need for continued support to African countries taking into account their national priorities and needs. In this regard, the Security Council also underscores the importance of the rule of law in support of socio-economic development. The Security Council also notes the AU PCRD highlights the need for undertaking comprehensive institution-building to enhance good economic governance through the reinforcement of fiscal and financial management institutions in support of effective revenue collection, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and anticorruption structures to ensure accountability and transparency.

“The Security Council encourages all relevant stakeholders to strengthen support for capacity-building of African countries to continue their efforts in enhancing education and vocational training, especially for women and youth, and stresses in this regard the importance of creating a conducive environment for technological innovation, taking advantage of frontier technologies and investing in digitalization.

“The Security Council recognizes that Africa is one of the regions that contribute the least to climate change, yet is extremely vulnerable and exposed to the adverse effects of climate change, extreme weather patterns, manifesting as floods, droughts, heatwaves, forest fires, storms, cyclones, and slow-onset events such as the rise of sea levels and, changing and unpredictable rainfall patterns, as well as their impacts on food security, among other factors, on the stability of a number of African States, calls upon the international community, including developed countries, to continue to support Africa to address its adaptation needs through, inter alia, the development, voluntary transfer and deployment of technology on mutually agreed terms, capacity-building including on renewables-based energy transition, and energy efficiency and the provision and mobilization of adequate and predictable resources, in line with existing commitments and equally accessible for all, and further calls on the international community and United Nations to support regional and subregional dialogues, initiatives and cooperation on developing comprehensive risk assessments to take meaningful actions to adapt to or mitigate challenges posed by climate change and environment degradation, including as peacebuilding efforts.

“The Security Council emphasizes that the presence of terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism may exacerbate conflicts, and contribute to undermining affected States, specifically their security, stability, governance, social and economic development, reaffirms the need to condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestation, stresses the need for strengthened S/PRST/2022/6 4/5 22-21221 support to African countries, including through capacity support and institutional training, to address through a holistic approach the underlying conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism on national, sub-regional and regional levels, including through supporting the full operation of African Standby Force, the delivery of effective and targeted capacity building, sharing of information and best practices, and mobilizing more sustainable and predicable resources and expertise.

“The Security Council encourages bilateral and multilateral partners to provide adequate support, where possible and upon request, taking into account national needs and priorities, in terms of personnel, funds, technology, training and equipment to States and regional organizations, and continue to assist in enhancing their capabilities to cooperate and coordinate their efforts to counter piracy and armed robbery at sea in the regions, including with regard to the conduct of patrols, law enforcement at sea, anti-piracy drills, land, maritime and air surveillance, and other operations and in this regard, the Security Council recalls its Presidential Statement (S/PRST/2021/15) on 9 August 2021.

“The Security Council underscores the important contribution made by peacekeepers and peacekeeping missions to the maintenance of peace and security in Africa, recognizes the need to review and adjust peacekeeping mission mandates in a timely manner according to the actual needs of the country concerned and the situation on the ground, to ensure the effectiveness of peacekeeping operations, requests the Secretary-General, in the context of his comprehensive annual briefing to the Security Council on the United Nations peacekeeping operations, to provide the Security Council, no later than 31 August 2023, with a report on the overall performance of United Nations peacekeeping operations and recommendations on improving their performance, adjusting or providing exit strategies for if needed, their respective mandates, and measures to enhance the safety and security of peacekeepers.

“The Security Council encourages continued development and application of mechanisms for peaceful settlement of disputes through regional and subregional arrangements to achieve collective, comprehensive, cooperative and sustained security for the African continent, commends the efforts of the African Union to further strengthen its capacity, including through the advancement of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), including on early warning, preventive diplomacy, mediation, peacekeeping, peacebuilding, electoral assistance, promotion and protection of human rights, international humanitarian law and the rule of law, protection of civilians including women and children, recognizes the capacity of the African Union and subregional organizations to address the root causes of conflict in Africa, while noting the need for the provision of support by the international community and the United Nations in this regard.

“The Security Council welcomes the continuing important efforts and enhanced role of the African Union, sub-regional organizations and regional mechanisms in peace operations in accordance with Security Council resolutions and decisions, recognizes that one major constraint facing the African Union in effectively carrying out AU-led operations is the need to secure predictable, sustainable and flexible resources for its operations that are authorized by the Security Council and consistent with Chapter VIII of the Charter, and encourages further dialogue on options including using UN assessed contributions, in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2378 (2017), for addressing this issue. The Council requests the Secretary-General to provide the Security Council, no later than 30 April 2023, with a report that S/PRST/2022/6 22-21221 5/5 provides update on progress made so far by the United Nations and the African Union to fulfill the commitments as set in Security Council Resolution 2320 (2016) and Resolution 2378 (2017), and recommendations on moving forward that reflect good practices and lessons-learned with the view to secure predictable, sustainable and flexible resources.

“The Security Council commends the progress made in the UN-AU partnership and stresses that it should further develop into a systematic, operational, and strategic partnership, and encourages efforts to fully utilize the mutual consultations between the Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council, based on respective comparative advantages, for facilitating further dialogue and cooperation on capacity building and common strategies for achieving sustaining peace in Africa, and expresses its readiness to discuss and explore specific measures to further implement recommendations contained in this Statement during the next annual consultations between the Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council.”

ENDS.

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