Security Council seeks to bring peace and development to Africa

Faced with the conflicts and complex crises plaguing Africa, the United Nations Security Council today discussed ways to refine prevention and containment strategies by involving regional and global organizations and exploring the links between peace and security on the one hand and social and economic development on the other.

“Greater and more creative efforts by the international community in a concerted and comprehensive manner involving not only the UN, but also the Bretton Woods institutions and donor countries, are essential for successful peace-building,” Ibrahim A. Gambari, Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa, said.

Addressing the 15-member body at a public meeting called to consider “Conflicts in Africa: Security Council Missions and United Nations mechanisms to promote peace and security,” on the eve of Council missions to Central and West Africa, Mr. Gambari said it was important to learn from previous experiences.

He also advocated the need to design and implement preventive measures that had the prospects of success. In general, conflicts in Africa could not be resolved without taking their regional and global dimensions fully into account.

“The recognition that the international community has not yet been particularly successful in post-conflict peace-building in Africa and, perhaps, elsewhere, [indicates] that more concerted efforts need to be made in these areas,” he said.

Highlighting pressing issues demanding urgent attention, Mr. Gambari urged the Council to evaluate the current mandate and resources of the various UN operations in Central Africa for “much needed adjustment,” especially in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He urged members to revisit the possibility of holding an international conference on the Great Lakes region to discuss the region’s future.

On West Africa, the Council should assess the capacity of regional organizations to participate in operations. It should also seek ways to implement resolution 1366 calling for the enhancement of the capacity for conflict prevention of regional organizations by extending international assistance.

“When the missions return, the Council may also wish to consider measures to foster a greater coordination and coherence in the United Nations’ response at the intergovernmental level to the interrelated issue of peace, security and development in Africa,” he said. “To advance that process, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) may wish to consider holding joint meetings periodically, as a means of mobilizing international support for Africa in areas of conflict prevention and resolution, for which the Security Council has the mandate, and of post-conflict economic rehabilitation, for which the Economic and Social Council has a unique responsibility.”

Opening the session, the Council President for May, Ambassador Munir Akram of Pakistan, said the missions to Central and West Africa would take a powerful message that the Council remained focused on the issues in the subregions and remained actively engaged.

Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sablière of France, who will lead the Council mission to Central Africa from 9 to 16 June, said specific measures were necessary to neutralize the engines to the conflict in DRC, such as the plundering of mineral richness. There was also a need for strengthening the framework of the peace process and that was the specific goal of the Council mission.

United Kingdom Ambassador, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, who will lead the Council mission to West Africa, said it was now clear that lasting stability there depended on sustainable peace in every country of the region.

For his part, Ambassador Jagdish Koonjul of Mauritius, current Chairman of the African Regional Group, said the Group regretted that the mission to West Africa had been abruptly postponed earlier this month because of other urgent matters – the debate on Iraq. Urgency and importance were matters of perception, he added.

Speaking on behalf of the Ad-hoc working Group on Conflict Prevention and Solution in Africa, Ambassador Ismael Abraão Gaspar Martins of Angola welcomed Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s efforts to establish a bureau within the UN Secretariat to deal especially with African issues. He also welcomed UN readiness to assist in implementation of the African Union (AU) Protocol creating the African Council of Peace and Security.