Africa faces unprecedented threats, needs conflict prevention – UN

Africa faces unprecedented threats from violent conflicts, and the continent needs conflict prevention to achieve peace and security, UN Special Representative to the African Union (AU), Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, has said.

Onanga-Anyanga was speaking at a Security Council meeting focused on the key issues faced by Africa and cooperation between the UN and the AU.

The UN envoy also said conflicts in Africa cannot be solved through military solutions.

According to him, peace and security on the continent “demands a proactive preventative” approach.

He warned that “concerns remain in some parts of the continent about the number and complexity of conflicts.”

He said these conflicts were often worsened by “weak or ineffective state authority, violent extremism conducive to terrorist activities and the inequitable management of natural resources”.

The other reasons fuelling violent conflicts, he said, are “organised crime, the impact of climate change, acute food insecurity and, in some cases, denial of fundamental human rights”.

Conflicts in the Horn of Africa, Sudan, South Sudan and the Great Lakes region, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have caused widespread displacement and multiple humanitarian emergencies.

“No military solution whatsoever can resolve underlying causes of the conflict in the DRC or elsewhere in Africa,” Onanga-Anyanga said.

“I call upon this Council to continue to leverage its influence towards the peaceful settlement of outstanding issues between the parties.”

The Special Representative highlighted two critical conflict-related issues to Council members: climate change as a conflict multiplier and the challenges faced by women and girls in battle-scarred regions.

He noted the consistent spillover effects of climate-induced insecurity across all these crises.

Speaking for the AU, Amb. Mohamed Edrees told the Council that “Africa is facing an unprecedented wave of threats to its security”.

The AU envoy added that “solutions are needed to achieve greater stability.”

The UN and the AU have long collaborated on issues affecting the continent.

According to the UN Special Representative, “significant progress has been made, particularly in supporting recent free, fair and credible elections across the continent.

Onanga-Anyanga said that fostering consensus was more important than ever.

“The strong and enduring partnership between the United Nations and the African Union, as well as with other regional organisations, constitutes the foundation of effective and networked multilateralism.

He added that the partnership was “essential to address today’s complex, evolving and interconnected threats to peace, security, development and human rights, particularly in Africa”.

In December 2023, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution (2719) to enhance cooperation between the UN and AU.

Addressing the Council, Martha Pobee, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, said that the resolution was conceived “as a means to address a longstanding gap in the African Union’s peace and security architecture”.

Pobee added that the resolution aimed “to better respond to armed conflicts on the African continent, with the support of the broader international community, and this Council in particular.”

The efforts “seek to ensure that our collaboration is grounded both in strategic vision and in operational practicality,” Pobee said.

Earlier in the year, the UN outlined financial rules for AU-led missions, now under legislative review.