Cooperation Between the United Nations and the African Union

A/RES/65/274View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 122a Cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union, published in 2010.

What other versions does this mandate have?

7 versions · 2003–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/79/329

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/79/329	Cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union	4,349	16%Compare
2013	A/RES/67/302	Cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union	3,723	66%Compare
2011	A/RES/65/274	Cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union	3,782	53%Compare
2009	A/RES/63/310	Cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union	2,601	39%Compare
2007	A/RES/61/296	Cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union	2,199	46%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report · 2004

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2004	A/59/591	Enhancement of African peacekeeping capacity report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/57/48

What’s in this document?

33 operative paragraphs

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General,Error: Reference source not found calls for the implementation of the declaration on enhancing United Nations-African Union cooperation and the framework for the ten-year capacity-building programme for the African Union,Error: Reference source not found and in this regard takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the review of the ten-year capacity-building programme for the African Union,²⁶ and requests the Secretary-General to continue to take appropriate measures to strengthen the capacity of the Secretariat and to implement its mandate with respect to meeting the special needs of Africa in accordance with the established United Nations procedures;

²⁶A/65/716-S/2011/54.

Recalls that the Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and requests the United Nations system to intensify its assistance to the African Union, as appropriate, in strengthening the African peace and security architecture, including the institutional and operational capacity of its Peace and Security Council, and in coordinating with other international partners when needed;

Emphasizes the need to pursue the ongoing measures to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union, and in this regard welcomes the establishment of the United Nations Office to the African Union in Addis Ababa, integrating the United Nations Liaison Office to the African Union, and also welcomes the appointment of an Assistant Secretary-General to head the Office with a view to intensifying, improving and better coordinating United Nations engagement with the African Union in existing and emerging areas of cooperation in peace and security and political and humanitarian affairs, and recommends speedy implementation to ensure the adequate handling of the responsibilities related to coordinating the United Nations system in those areas, including implementing relevant aspects of the ten-year capacity-building programme, in order to enhance the strategic and operational partnership between the United Nations and the African Union and its subregions;

Welcomes the establishment of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa, and encourages the Regional Office and the United Nations Office for West Africa to deepen their relationships with the Economic Community of Central African States and the Economic Community of West African States, respectively, in order to further strengthen United Nations-African Union cooperation;

Recognizes the need to enhance the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing for regional organizations, including the African Union, when they undertake peacekeeping operations under a United Nations mandate, and notes the determination of the Security Council to continue working on this issue in accordance with its responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations;

Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on support to African Union peacekeeping operations authorized by the United Nations²⁷ and the related statement by the President of the Security Council of 22 October 2010²⁸ as important steps towards the further strengthening of the partnership between the Security Council and the Peace and Security Council of the African Union;

²⁷A/65/510-S/2010/514.

²⁸S/PRST/2010/21; see Resolutions and Decisions of the Security Council, 1 August 2010–31 July 2011.

Notes with appreciation the ongoing efforts of the African Union to address the issue of the protection of civilians in armed conflict and in the context of peacekeeping operations, and encourages the African Union to continue those efforts;

Welcomes the launching, in New York on 25 September 2010, of the United Nations-African Union Joint Task Force on Peace and Security as an important framework for furthering the strategic partnership on peace and security between the Secretariat and the African Union Commission, and calls for the full implementation of the agreed terms of reference of the Task Force;

Stresses the urgent need for the United Nations and the African Union to develop close cooperation and concrete programmes aimed at addressing the problems posed by landmines, illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons and transnational organized crime, in particular trafficking in persons and drugs, within the framework of the relevant declarations and resolutions adopted by the two organizations;

Calls upon the United Nations system, the African Union and the international community to intensify their cooperation in the global fight against terrorism through the implementation of the relevant international and regional treaties and protocols and, in particular, the African Plan of Action adopted in Algiers on 14 September 2002, as well as their support for the operation of the African Centre for Studies and Research on Terrorism, inaugurated in Algiers in October 2004;

Calls upon the United Nations system to intensify its efforts, in collaboration with the African Union, in combating the illegal exploitation of natural resources, in particular in conflict areas, in accordance with relevant resolutions and decisions of the United Nations and the African Union;

Also calls upon the United Nations system to continue its support for the African Union and its member States in their efforts to implement the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and requests the Secretary-General and the international community to fulfil the commitments that they undertook during the high-level event on the Millennium Development Goals, held in New York on 25 September 2008, and the High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals, held in New York from 20 to 22 September 2010;

Urges the organizations of the United Nations system to coordinate closely with the African Union Commission and its structures relating to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development,13 in particular through the Regional Coordination Mechanism, in order to enhance overall coordination, monitoring and evaluation of all development programmes and projects of all international development stakeholders;

Stresses the need for closer cooperation and coordination between the United Nations system and the African Union, in accordance with the Cooperation Agreement²⁹ and other relevant memorandums of understanding between the two organizations, in particular in the implementation of the commitments contained in the United Nations Millennium DeclarationError: Reference source not found and the 2005 World Summit OutcomeError: Reference source not found and as regards achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, at the national, subregional and regional levels;

²⁹United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1580, No. 1044.

Urges the United Nations system to increase its support for Africa in the implementation of the declaration of the extraordinary summit meeting of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity on HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other related infectious diseases, held in Abuja in April 2001,³⁰ and to extend that support until 2015 to coincide with the date envisaged for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and in the implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS,³¹ so as to eradicate or control the spread of those diseases, inter alia, through sound capacity-building in human resources;

³⁰Organization of African Unity, document OAU/SPS/ABUJA/3.

³¹Resolution S-26/2, annex.

Invites the United Nations system to enhance its support for African countries in their efforts to implement the Johannesburg Plan of ImplementationError: Reference source not found and to support efforts aimed at strengthening cooperation among the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and the Economic Commission for Africa to address the development challenges of Africa, including the efforts for the eradication of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, as decided by the Assembly of the African Union at its fifteenth ordinary session, held in Kampala from 25 to 27 July 2010;

Notes the establishment on 11 October 2010 of a joint secretariat for the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and the Economic Commission for Africa, to be based at the headquarters of the Economic Commission in Addis Ababa, to enhance coherence, cooperation and information-sharing, as well as to build stronger links among the departments and divisions of the three institutions in support of the development agenda of Africa;

Encourages the United Nations to take special measures, as appropriate, to address the challenges of poverty eradication through the United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, noting the importance of addressing, inter alia, debt cancellation, enhanced official development assistance, increases in flows of foreign direct investment and voluntary transfer of technology, the World Food Programme, the agriculture partnership to combat hunger, universal primary education initiatives, gender equality programmes, improved maternal health programmes and HIV/AIDS education;

Encourages the deepening of collaboration between the United Nations and the African Union, recalling the African Union Framework for Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development and the efforts of the Peacebuilding Commission to enhance international support for African countries on the agenda of the Commission, and reiterates the need for enhanced coordination and consultations between the Commission and the African Union on assistance for countries emerging from conflict;

Invites the Secretary-General to request all relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes to intensify their efforts to support cooperation with the African Union, including through the implementation of the protocols to the Constitutive Act of the African UnionError: Reference source not found and the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community,³² and, in cooperation with other international partners, to assist in harmonizing the programmes of the African Union with those of the African regional economic communities with a view to enhancing regional economic cooperation and integration;

³²A/46/651, annex.

Encourages the United Nations system to effectively support the efforts of the African Union by urging the international community to strive for the successful and timely completion of the Doha round of trade negotiations, including negotiations aimed at substantial improvements in areas such as trade-related measures, including market access, to promote sustainable growth in Africa;

Calls upon the United Nations system to accelerate the implementation of the Plan of Action contained in the document entitled “A world fit for children”, adopted on 10 May 2002 at the twenty-seventh special session of the General Assembly on children,³³ and to provide assistance, as appropriate, to the African Union and its member States in this regard, welcomes the ongoing efforts of the African Union to ensure the protection of the rights of children, and in this regard recalls the adoption of the Call for accelerated action on the implementation of the Plan of Action towards Africa Fit for Children (2008–2012);³⁴

³³Resolution S-27/2, annex.

³⁴A/62/653, annex.

Calls upon the United Nations system and the African Union to develop a coherent and effective strategy, including through joint programmes and activities, for the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa, within the framework of the implementation of regional and international treaties, resolutions and plans of action adopted by the two organizations;

Requests the United Nations system to cooperate with the African Union and its member States in the implementation of appropriate policies for the promotion of the culture of democracy, including the effective application of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance,Error: Reference source not found as well as the promotion of good governance, respect for human rights and the rule of law, and the strengthening of democratic institutions, and in this regard notes that the sixteenth ordinary session of the Assembly of the African Union, held on 30 and 31 January 2011, had as its theme “Towards greater unity and integration through shared values”;

Urges the United Nations system to continue to implement General Assembly resolutions 58/149 of 22 December 2003 and 63/149 of 18 December 2008 on assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa and to effectively support African countries in their efforts to incorporate the problems of refugees into national and regional development plans, and in this regard recalls the Plan of Action for the implementation of the outcome of the 2009 Special Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, and the adoption of the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, adopted on 23 October 2009;Error: Reference source not found

Welcomes and supports the ongoing efforts of the African Union to support gender equality, the empowerment of women and social development, and recalls in this regard the declaration of the African Women’s Decade by the Assembly of the African Union in February 2009,³⁵ and the African Union Gender Policy, the Social Policy Framework for Africa and the Windhoek Declaration on Social Development, adopted by the Executive Council of the African Union in January 2009;

³⁵See A/63/848, annex II, decision Assembly/AU/Dec.229 (XII).

Welcomes the creation of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) and the appointment of an Under-Secretary-General for UN-Women;

Encourages the United Nations to work with the African Union and its partners to ensure more effective implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions and statements by the President of the Council relating to women and peace and security, including resolutions 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000, 1820 (2008) of 19 June 2008, 1888 (2009) of 30 September 2009, 1889 (2009) of 5 October 2009 and 1960 (2010) of 16 December 2010;

Recalls its resolution 63/250 of 24 December 2008 on human resources management, and urges the Secretary-General to encourage the United Nations system to work, within existing rules and regulations, towards ensuring the effective and equitable representation of African men and women at senior and policy levels at the respective headquarters of its organizations and in their regional fields of operation;

Encourages the United Nations and the African Union to pursue joint initiatives for partnerships in Africa through, inter alia, the United Nations Office to the African Union, the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa and the United Nations Office for Partnerships;

Takes note of the comprehensive report on “Africa’s development needs: state of implementation of various commitments, challenges and the way forward”,³⁶ including recommendations, submitted by the Secretary-General to the General Assembly pursuant to paragraph 39 of its resolution 63/1 of 22 September 2008, and in this regard looks forward to the formulation, by the end of the sixty-seventh session of the Assembly, of a mechanism to review the full and timely implementation of all commitments related to the development of Africa, building on existing mechanisms, to ensure that Member States remain seized of the issue of addressing the special development needs of Africa;

³⁶A/64/208.

Calls upon the Secretary-General and the Chair of the African Union Commission, working in collaboration, to review every two years the progress made in the cooperation between the two organizations, and requests the Secretary-General to include the results of the review in his next report;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session on the implementation of the present resolution.

Cooperation Between the United Nations and the African Union

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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