Statement by Ambassador Philip Parham, Charge d'Affaires and Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom Mission to the UN

Thank you Mr President,  

I thank Under Secretary-General Le Roy for his presentation and welcome the fact that Under Secretary-General Malcorra is also here with us for this debate.  We’re also grateful for the presentation by Mr Antonio on behalf of the African Union and to Professor Prodi for his contribution and for the work of the UN-AU panel under his leadership. The issue of UN support to African Union peacekeeping under a UN mandate is important. The UK welcomes the opportunity to debate it here in the Council.

Peacekeeping plays a vital role in the maintenance of international peace and security.  In recent years we have seen an increase in both the scale and complexity of the challenges.

The UK supports the efforts underway to develop a more effective and strategic approach to peacekeeping.  Given the range of challenges faced not only in peacekeeping, but in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and mediation, the role of regional and sub-regional organisations is becoming increasingly important.

We therefore welcome the enhanced relationship between the UN and regional and sub-regional organisations, in particular the African Union, as outlined in Security Council Resolution 1809.  Since the adoption of that resolution, some 18 months ago, there’s been much consideration of the different ways the relationship can be enhanced.  We’ve also seen concrete examples of practical support from the United Nations to the African Union, notably on AMISOM.  The report of the Panel chaired by Professor Prodi, which this Council debated in March, was an important contribution to the debate.

The Secretary-General’s report is the latest step in this work. It provides a number of useful ideas for how the two organisations can continue to develop their strategic and operational relationship.

As the Secretary-General observes in his report, building sufficient institutional capacity in key management, support, and strategic planning functions represents a major challenge for the African Union.  We welcome his suggestions to help build African Union capacity and in particular, his proposal for a capacity-building roadmap.  This should form part of the wider African Union Strategic Plan for 2009 to 2012, in order to underpin African ownership and responsibility, and ensure synergy with the African Union’s overall development.

Building African Union management capacity, including resource management, is essential, not only to manage immediate and future peacekeeping demands, but also to enable a more effective partnership between the African Union and donors.  We also need to see harmonised reporting requirements for donors.

Mr President,

The United Kingdom supports the development of African Union peacekeeping capability both bilaterally and through international partners. This includes support to the Africa Standby Force, to regional training centres, and to African Union political offices.  As Ambassador Araud has already told us the European Union is providing substantial support, in addition it’s the main financial partner of the African Union, providing €300M of funding for AU capacity building through the Africa Peace Facility, of which the United Kingdom contributes over €45M.

We recognise the need to work towards enhancing the longer term predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing for AU-led operations under a United Nations mandate.  The Secretary-General highlights a range of potential options in his report.  We would not rule out any of these options at this stage.

Proposal for establishing a standing flexible trust fund within the framework of the existing African Union Peace Fund, has the potential to provide rapid funding for AU operations as well as for longer-term needs.

Mr President,

We welcome the intention of the Secretary-General to establish a joint task force on peace and security which will review immediate and long term strategic and operational issues.  We also welcome the other proposals to develop the interaction between the UN Secretariat and the African Union Commission.  We look forward to further Council discussion of these issues in due course.

Mr President,

We remain committed to continuing to assist the development of the Africa Union’s capacity to deliver peace and security in Africa.

Thank you.

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