S/PV.6092 (Resumption 1)
6092nd meeting
Wednesday, 18 March 2009, 3 p.m.
New York
Peace and security in Africa
The President (spoke in Arabic): After consultations among the members of the Security Council, I have been authorized to make the following statement on behalf of the Council:
“The Security Council reiterates its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and recalls that cooperation with regional and subregional organizations in matters relating to the maintenance of peace and security and consistent with Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations can improve collective security.
“The Security Council recalls its previous relevant resolutions and statements which underscore the importance of developing effective partnerships between the United Nations and regional organizations, in particular the African Union, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the relevant statutes of the regional organizations, in particular the African Union.
“The Security Council welcomes the continuing important efforts of the African Union to settle conflicts in the African continent, and expresses its support for peace initiatives conducted by the African Union.
“The Security Council reaffirms its resolution 1809 (2008), which recognizes the need to enhance the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing regional organizations when they undertake peacekeeping under a United Nations mandate.
“The Security Council recognizes that regional organizations have the responsibility to secure human, financial, logistical and other resources for their organizations.
“The Council underscores the importance of supporting and improving, in a sustained way, the capacity of the African Union, and welcomes recent developments regarding cooperation between the United Nations, the African Union and international partners, including the enhancement of the African Union capacities.
“The Security Council welcomes the efforts of the African Union-United Nations panel in producing a report on modalities to support African Union peacekeeping operations (A/63/666-S/2008/813). The Security Council notes with interest the panel’s report.
“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to submit a report, no later than 18 September 2009, on practical ways to provide effective support for the African Union when it undertakes peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations, that includes a detailed assessment of the recommendations contained in the report of the African Union-United Nations panel, in particular those on financing, as well as on the establishment of a joint African Union-United Nations team.
“The Security Council further requests the Secretary-General to take into account in his report the lessons learned from past and current African Union peacekeeping efforts, in particular the African Union-United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and the efforts to provide a logistical support package for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and the establishment of a trust fund called for by Security Council resolution 1863 (2009).
“The Security Council underlines the importance of implementing the Ten-Year Capacity Building Programme for the African Union on peace and security, in particular the operationalization of the African Union Standby Force and the Continental Early Warning System. The Council stresses its support for ongoing efforts to strengthen the African Peace and Security Architecture and reiterates its call for the international community, particularly donors, to fulfil their commitments in the 2005 World Summit Outcome document.
“The Security Council emphasizes the importance of establishing more effective strategic relationships between the United Nations Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council and between the United Nations Secretariat and the African Union Commission, and encourages further joint efforts in this direction, focusing on issues of mutual interests. The Security Council calls on the Secretariat and the African Union Commission to further collaborate on issues of mutual interests, including through developing a list of the military, technical, logistic and administrative capacities that need developing, supporting regular follow-up missions, experience sharing, staff exchanges, and in financial and logistical areas.
“The Security Council expresses its intention to further consider this issue following the report of the Secretary-General.”
This statement will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/2009/3.
Before I adjourn this meeting, I wish, on behalf of all the members of the Council, to express my gratitude and appreciation to Mr. Romano Prodi and the other members of his panel for their valuable efforts and for the report before the Council. We are grateful to Mr. Prodi for having come to New York to present the report to us.
