May 23, 2024
Ambassador Sérgio França Danese, Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, underscored its commitment to partnering with Africa for sustained peace, by identifying and addressing context-specific root causes of conflict. Investment in sustainable development is crucial to long-term social cohesion and stability, and must take place alongside other peacebuilding initiatives.
“There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development,” he stressed, noting Africa’s young population makes this even more important and provides a “wealth of opportunities” for inclusive growth.
He commended Africa’s progress to institutionalize regional policies through the African Union and subregional organizations.
During their sixth Informal Annual Joint Consultative Meeting in November 2023, the African Union Peace and Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission discussed ways to strengthen their cooperation to support national priorities and the activities of regional organizations, and African Union peacebuilding efforts such as implementation of the African Union Policy on Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development. Such support “is essential to ensure that African countries can build a foundation for sustainable peace according to their specific needs and priorities, based on national ownership”, he said.
While underlining that African problems must be solved with African solutions, he said partnerships are fundamental and financial institutions should expand cooperation in peacebuilding and sustaining peace, including in conflict prevention.
The Commission hopes to assist by connecting countries needing financial support with international financial institutions and other potential partners. It hopes the implementation of General Assembly resolution 78/257 (2023) will expand the possibilities for supporting initiatives in Africa through the Peacebuilding Fund.
He called for coherence and complementarity between peacebuilding, peacekeeping missions and counter-terrorism operations, taking into account the proposals in A New Agenda for Peace. The implementation of Council resolution 2719 (2023) to support African Union-led peace operations with UN-assessed contributions is an opportunity for closer cooperation between the UN and the African Union.
The Commission “stands ready to offer its expertise in laying the groundwork for transitions and durable solutions, including through addressing root causes of conflict, and to engage with African countries on their path to stability and prosperity”, he underscored. He also affirmed the importance of reinforced implementation of the Joint UN-African Union Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, the African Union-UN framework for the implementation of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.