Political Declaration on the Peaceful Resolution of Conflicts in Africa

A/RES/67/259View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 33 Prevention of armed conflict, published in 2013.

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Africa Declarations (Text)Dispute Settlement Regional Security War Prevention

What’s in this document?

31 operative paragraphs

Adopts the following political declaration:

Political declaration on the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa

We, representatives of Member States and observers meeting in New York on 25 April 2013, declare that the high-level meeting on the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa constitutes an excellent opportunity to strengthen the global partnership in support of Africa’s own efforts and leadership to resolve conflicts and promote durable peace and sustainable development.

We congratulate the people and the Governments of the African continent and the leadership of the African Union on the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Organization of African Unity, celebrated under the theme “Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance”. We pay special tribute to the generation of pan-Africanists and the founding fathers of the African Union who strived to promote unity, solidarity, cohesion and cooperation among the people and Governments of Africa.

We express deep appreciation to the Organization of African Unity for its historic role in the liberation of the people of Africa from the yoke of colonialism and apartheid and for its invaluable contribution towards the objective of achieving total decolonization and unity of the African continent, and recall that African leaders reviewed the functioning of the Organization and decided to transform it into the African Union as a new continental body for political and economic renewal and decision-making to mainstream good governance and accountability.

We emphasize the necessity to redouble efforts in order to peacefully resolve all outstanding conflicts and disputes on the African continent.

We welcome the role and positive contribution of the African Union in efforts to settle disputes and conflicts peacefully in Africa and express our support for the mediation and peacekeeping initiatives conducted by the African Union. We also recognize the contribution of subregional organizations.

We urge the international community, including the United Nations, to continue to effectively address the twin imperatives of security and development in Africa in a comprehensive manner in collaboration with the African Union, and further reaffirm that peace, security, development and human rights are inextricably linked.

We stress the obligation of States to settle their disputes by peaceful means in accordance with Chapter VI of the Charter of the United Nations. In this context, we urge all States to act in accordance with the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.²

²Resolution 2625 (XXV), annex.

We call for the strengthening of the role of mediation in the peaceful settlement of disputes and in conflict management, prevention and resolution, and support the use of mediation by all relevant actors in accordance with the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter.

We further reaffirm our support for preventive diplomacy in order to prevent or mitigate the spread of armed conflict, and reiterate the need to strengthen international and, in particular, African capacity for preventive diplomacy across the conflict spectrum and as part of broader, nationally driven strategies to promote peace. We welcome the contribution of the African Union to mediation efforts on the continent and call upon the United Nations and the rest of the international community to continue to support African mediation efforts through the provision of related technical support.

We recognize that the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter is indispensable and remains a solid foundation for sustained and coordinated efforts aimed at the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa. We reaffirm the need to work with the African Union in assisting African countries emerging from conflict in their efforts to build national capacities.

We welcome the intensification of cooperation and mutual support between the United Nations and the African Union and call for closer and enhanced cooperation and coordination between the United Nations system and the African Union, in accordance with the cooperation agreement and other relevant memorandums of understanding between the two organizations.

We commend the efforts of the United Nations, the African Union and subregional organizations, together with other international partners, to provide effective support for peacekeeping missions undertaken by regional organizations in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter.

We pledge to support the full operationalization of the African Peace and Security Architecture, including the Panel of the Wise, the African Union Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development Framework, the Peace Fund, the continental early warning system and the operationalization of the African Standby Force.

We emphasize the need for a coordinated, coherent and integrated approach to post-conflict peacebuilding and reconciliation with a view to achieving sustainable peace, and recognize in this regard the importance of the Peacebuilding Commission in providing political accompaniment, marshalling adequate resources and forging coherence and coordination among relevant actors, as well as the need for the Commission to advise on and propose integrated strategies for post-conflict peacebuilding and recovery aligned with nationally identified priorities.

We recognize that the implementation of peacebuilding and State-building goals will contribute to durable peace and sustainable development in Africa.

We further recognize that durable peace and sustainable development can be enhanced through inclusive political settlements and conflict resolution, increased protection and empowerment, as well as access to justice, employment and improved socioeconomic conditions, transparency and accountability.

We commend the efforts of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission in promoting the United Nations-African Union partnership, which has been enhanced through Security Council resolutions 1809 (2008) and 2033 (2012) and through all relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and resolutions and presidential statements of the Security Council related to cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union, in particular General Assembly resolutions 60/1, 63/1, 65/274, 66/286 and 66/287, in ensuring that regional arrangements fully play their role in the peace and security architecture.

We recall paragraph 153 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome,³ in which leaders resolved to support early reform of the Security Council as an essential element of overall efforts to reform the United Nations in order to make it more broadly representative, efficient and transparent and thus further enhance its effectiveness and the legitimacy and implementation of its decisions. We recognize that more that 70 per cent of the work of the Security Council is on African issues, and in this context we acknowledge the historical injustice against Africa with regard to its representation in the Security Council and express support for increased and enhanced representation for Africa in the reformed Security Council. We also take note of the African common position as reflected in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration.

³Resolution 60/1.

We underline the need to continue to take measures to strengthen the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa in order to enable it to effectively fulfil its mandate, including monitoring and reporting on progress related to meeting the special needs of Africa.

We encourage the United Nations Office to the African Union and the Office of the Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations to continue their efforts to contribute to strengthening cooperation between the United Nations Secretariat and the African Union Commission, and underscore the importance of expediting the implementation, in close consultation with other international partners, of the 2006 United Nations–African Union Ten-year Capacity-building Programme for the African Union, focusing mainly on peace and security.

We commend Africa on its recent economic performance, which has sparked renewed optimism about the continent’s prospects for development as an emerging centre of growth and a vibrant market. We underline in particular that the African continent has experienced unprecedented growth over the past decade and has been remarkably resilient to the global economic crisis.

We reaffirm that, despite recent considerable improvements, the special needs of the African continent, in line with the values and principles of the United Nations Millennium Declaration adopted by Heads of State and Government in September 2000⁴ and as contained in the 2005 World Summit Outcome, have yet to be effectively addressed in order to achieve in a full and timely manner the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals. We further reaffirm our strong commitment to the ongoing discussions on sustainable development goals in the context of the post-2015 development agenda and emphasize that the development of these goals should not divert efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

⁴Resolution 55/2.

We acknowledge the New Partnership for Africa’s Development⁵ as a blueprint for the economic uplifting of the African continent, and welcome with appreciation the substantial progress made by the African countries in fulfilling their commitments, in particular through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, the African Peer Review Mechanism, the African Union Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative, led by Member States and regional organizations in support of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa, and the African Bioscience and Information Communication Technology Initiative. We also emphasize the need to integrate the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development within the post-2015 sustainable development goals in order to promote sustainable growth and development and deepen democracy, human rights, good governance and sound economic management and gender equality.

⁵A/57/304, annex.

We recognize that more attention should be given to Africa and the implementation of previously agreed commitments related to its development needs that were made at major United Nations summits and conferences, noting that progress is still lagging in implementing those commitments, and in this regard we underscore the key priority for the international community of supporting Africa’s sustainable development efforts and stress the need to fully implement those internationally agreed commitments, particularly those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, the United Nations Declaration on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development,⁶ the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development,⁷ the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg Plan of Implementation),⁸ the 2005 World Summit Outcome and the 2008 political declaration on Africa’s development needs.⁹

⁶Resolution 57/2.

⁷Report of the International Conference on Financing for Development, Monterrey, Mexico, 18–22 March 2002 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.02.II.A.7), chap. I, resolution 1, annex.

⁸Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South Africa, 26 August–4 September 2002 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.03.II.A.1 and corrigendum), chap. I, resolution 2, annex.

⁹Resolution 63/1.

We stress that the eradication of poverty is among the greatest challenges facing the African continent today. We note with appreciation the efforts deployed by the African Union and the regional economic communities in the area of economic integration towards a vibrant Africa.

We call for the continued support of measures to address the challenges of poverty eradication, hunger, job creation and sustainable development in Africa, including debt relief, improved market access, support for the private sector and the development of entrepreneurship.

We reiterate our support for the transformation of African economies for the post-2015 development agenda, which reflects the priorities of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, and our strong faith in the Regional Coordination Mechanism for Africa. In this regard, we reaffirm our commitment to maintaining Africa among the highest priorities of the General Assembly.

We commit to supporting the consolidation of democracy and good governance in Africa. We welcome the remarkable progress that has been achieved in implementing the continent’s self-assessment for improved good governance, the African Peer Review Mechanism, as it enters its tenth year, and encourage African States that have not yet done so to consider joining the Mechanism process.

We, Heads of State and Government, ministers and representatives of Member States and observers, in adopting the present political declaration, reaffirm our commitment to addressing the development needs of the African continent and reiterate our belief in a prosperous future for Africa in which the fundamental human values of dignity and peace are fully enshrined.

We congratulate the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session for this high-level meeting initiative, and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for her valuable support and contribution to this high-level meeting.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Political declaration on the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa

Table of contents