ANTÓNIO GUTERRES, Secretary-General of the United Nations, acknowledged that “Africa is home to many examples of unity and solidarity in a fractured world,” citing the region’s focus on ending poverty and hunger, supporting refugees fleeing across borders, and achieving sustainable development. 

Other examples include the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the African Continental Free Trade Area, the continent’s leadership in renewable energy transitions and potential to become a renewable energy powerhouse, and its bold advocacy for reforming the global financial architecture. 

However, “all of these efforts require peace in Africa and beyond,” he stressed, noting that “too many Africans are caught up in the hell of conflicts or living with the relentless danger of terrorism and violent extremism in their communities.”

He said that the Sahel has been rocked by unconstitutional changes of government. Terrorism and violent extremism are spreading in the Lake Chad Basin, Somalia and elsewhere. Violence is continuing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Horn of Africa. The humanitarian nightmare is deepening in Sudan. Many African countries are still suffering the impact of the pandemic, higher rates of debt and escalating climate impacts. 

“The human cost of these conflicts is heartbreaking, and the cost to development is incalculable,” he said, asserting: “Now is the time to unleash Africa’s peace power” and strengthen Africa’s peace leadership on the continent and the global stage. 

Partnerships between the United Nations and Africa are based on the principle of African-led solutions to African problems, he said, and expressed full support for the African Union’s flagship ‘Silencing the Guns’ initiative. The United Nations is working closely with the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and others to end the scourge of terrorism. 

The Security Council adopted resolution 2719 (2023) to support African Union-led peace support operations, he said, adding that the two organizations will be developing a joint road map to take forward this important breakthrough. These types of partnerships are central to his ‘

A New Agenda for Peace’ policy brief, which connects the dots between development and sustainable peace, the Secretary-General said, pledging, “The African Union and the United Nations will continue working together to defuse conflicts before they escalate, manage them effectively when they occur, and build sustainable peace when they are resolved.”

African participation and leadership must be embedded across the global peace and security architecture, he stressed. Following the Second World War, the global governance mechanisms were designed by the most powerful countries at that time, as many African countries were still struggling to throw off the shackles of colonialism. 

Since then, the world has changed, but African countries continue to be denied a seat at the negotiating table, including at the Security Council. Despite these structural inequalities, African States are stepping up and contributing to peaceful solutions beyond the continent, he said. 

For example, Kenya is leading the upcoming Multilateral Security Support Mission in Haiti, with other African countries offering to send troops, he added. 

“Africa deserves a voice in the global peace and security architecture,” and their participation “as equals” must be ensured, he said, including correcting the lack of permanent African representation in the Council and reforming the global financial architecture. 

September’s Summit of the Future will be an opportunity to push forward on all of these issues, he said, urging African Member States to put forward specific proposals aimed at enhancing Africa’s representation within all global governance structures. 

“Peace is the key to unlocking Africa’s future,” he observed, also stressing “peace depends on African leadership.”