In Ethiopia, UN chief calls for peace in Africa

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – The UN Secretary-General chief, who is currently in Ethiopia, on Thursday called for peace across the African continent.

Antonio Guterres was speaking to the media after a meeting with the chairperson of the African Union Commission, following the sixth Africa Union-United Nations (AU-UN) annual conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“Today, we discussed how our organizations are working to ensure peace across the continent; Africa deserves and needs peace,” Guterres said.

He said that what is “dear to his heart” is a vision of peace in Africa.

“We need to make sure that we ensure robust African peace enforcement and counter-terrorist operations, mandated by the UN Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, and with stable and predictable funding through assessed contributions. Peace is never easy — but peace is always necessary,” he added.

The two organizations talked about how conflict has affected African states from the Sahel to the Great lakes and initiatives taken to resolve those conflicts.

Among their joint initiatives includes an independent assessment of security and development in the Sahel, forging a negotiated settlement in Ethiopia, supporting stability in Somalia and the transition in Libya, and restoring constitutional order in Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Mali and Sudan, to a joint weapons-collection campaign in Madagascar, Niger and Uganda.

The UN and AU are also supporting the Nairobi process — led by the East African Community — to bring peace and security to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

President Moussa Faki Mahamat and Guterres Thursday also met briefly for talks with Prime Minister Abiy of Ethiopia.

"We held fruitful discussions on a number of issues, I look forward to our strengthened collaboration," Abiy said in a brief statement.

The AU-UN annual conference also discussed issues related to security, development, and human rights in African countries, raising concerns over the deterioration of the human rights situation in some regions and the impact of climate change on the African continent.