Advancing synergies and regional approaches in support of nationally owned peacebuilding priorities in Africa

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, a very good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the 9th Annual Consultative Meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council and the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission. The theme is advancing synergies and regional approaches in support of nationally owned peacebuilding priorities in Africa. It's a pleasure and honor for me to host this meeting this year and I welcome all of the distinguished delegates from the AUPSC to New York. Welcome to all of you. The provisional agenda has been sent out to the members of the different bodies and is available for your perusal. If there are no objections, I will take it that the agenda is adopted. It is so decided. In order to kick off our work, please allow me to say a few words in my capacity as chair of the PBC in order to set the scene for our discussions this afternoon. President of the AU PSC, Commissioner of the African Union for Peace and Security, Madam USG for PBC. Please allow me, ladies and gentlemen, to pay tribute to my co-chair, Excellency Mr. Churchill, and Germany, who's successfully chaired the meeting in Addis Ababa in 2025. This meeting is particularly important since it's the first since the adoption in November in 2025 the twin resolutions on the review of the peacebuilding architecture PBA under the co-chairmanship of Egypt and Slovenia who I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to for the work undertaken these texts encouraged our commission to strengthen its strategic Partnerships with the PSC and to adopt, within the limit of existing resources, follow-up mechanisms for our annual consultations. The question is no longer whether we should co-operate, but rather how to make this co-operation ongoing, measurable and useful for the countries that request it. Progress needs to be underscored. Since 2025, there have been statutory contributions of funds to the PBAF. have reached $50 million annually, and Africa has been the main beneficiary since the first year. Other countries on the continent are set to benefit over the next few years. Alongside the African Union, needs assessment missions have been carried out in five countries, which have enabled us to engage in rapid impact projects. Commitments made last August during the 21st extraordinary summit for the fund the peacebuilding fund bear witness also to the African Union's willingness to bolster the financing of its own priorities finally three the African Union Center for reconstruction and post-conflict development and the PBSO agreed on the principle of engaging in regular exchanges between the different focal points and it will be useful to build on this agreement. The support needs, nevertheless, continue to be above the resources available, and secondly, the number of commitments will go well beyond our annual meetings. So, it's precisely the time between our meetings that we need to invest in going forward. So in this regard, I wanted to share three approaches that we could all think about to make progress. First of all, structuring follow-ups, clear and indicative deadlines to serve as a basis for written updates. from the secretariat in the middle of the year and then just before the next joint meeting, periodic exchanges between the chairs and presidents over video conference, so when necessary we can complete these things without creating too much administrative burden. Second, focusing our efforts in a when we're dispersed, we can identify one or two different contexts in West Africa or the Great Lakes region where coordinated approaches could provide some real added value. On demand, following demand requests and the agreement of the host countries, this could be agreed on and provide the opportunity to hear from the national authorities and regional actors. and thus contributes to guiding the work of the PBC, and written submissions being sent to the Security Council and the UN General Assembly. Third, bolstering the coherence of financing. The Peacebuilding Fund, whose new strategy is currently being drafted, has a pillar on the institutional capacities for the African Union Peacebuilding Fund, the African Development Bank and other financial institutions and they could benefit from better agreeing and working on the priorities defined by the countries themselves respecting the different rules and modus operandi of everyone a project led by a country could be an opportunity to show how we can continue the support after the transition so They have the same guiding principle running through them. First, national ownership. Second, support from relevant regional and subregional organizations at the request of the state affected to properly support their own priorities. So for the states concerned, and three, the full and meaningful participation of women and girls. This allows peacebuilding projects to be long-lasting and more inclusive. So by way of conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, our meetings have been precious, and it's now necessary for the efforts being made here to spill outside of this room and for the resources to turn from fragility to resilience. As we come out of this ninth meeting, It's the departure point of even closer participation between the men, women and young people who across the continent aspire to achieve lasting and shared peace. Thank you for your attention. It's now my honour and pleasure to invite His Excellency Mr. Churchill Awumbwe Monono, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Cameroon and Chairperson of the AUPSC for October 2026. And I invite him to make his opening statement. Sir, you have the floor.

Your Excellency, Mr. Omar Hilale, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco and Chair of the PBC, my fellow co-chair. Your Excellency, Ambassador Bankole Adoye, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security of the African Union. Your Excellency, Mr. Pafae Onanga Nyanga, Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of the UN Office to the African Union. Your Excellency, Elizabeth Spehar, Assistant Secretary General for Peacebuilding and Peace Support. Your Excellency, Martin Kimani, United Nations Assistant Secretary General for Africa. Distinguished members of the African Union Peace and Security Council. Distinguished members of the UN Peacebuilding Commission. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor in my capacity as the co-chair to welcome you to the 9th Annual Joint Consultative Meeting between the AU Peace and Security Council and the UN Peacebuilding Commission, held under the theme, Advancing Synergies and Regional Approaches in Support of nationally-owned peacebuilding priorities in Africa. I'm particularly pleased to co-chair this important meeting with Ambassador Omar Hilale of the Kingdom of Morocco, whose country has been a champion of the peace, security, and development nexus in Africa. I equally extend my appreciation to our colleagues from the Peace Building Commission for their continued partnership and engagement. On a personal note, I would like to appreciate the cooperation of the Permanent Representative of Germany, His Excellency Riklev Berton, my co-chair on the 17th of November 2025 when we last met in Addis Ababa. Our Annual Meeting reflects a shared conviction that sustainable peace requires more than responding to conflict once it has erupted. It calls for sustained efforts to prevent violence, address its underlying causes, support recovery and reconciliation, and strengthen the institutions and relationships that enable societies to live in peace and prevent them from relapsing into conflicts. The African Union and the United Nations have established a strong framework for cooperation in this regard. The AU's emphasis on African-led solutions, solidarity, and regional strategies, as well as national ownership complements that of the UN's global convening role and its support for peacebuilding. Our partnership is most effective when it is grounded in the priorities of the countries and communities concerned. and when international support is coordinated, predictable, and responsive to their needs. This meeting comes on the heels of three important developments in our working methods since October 2024. First has been the systematic follow-up and monitoring of commitments through implementation matrices which was also endorsed by the AU Extraordinary Summit on the Prevention and Resolution of Conflicts in Rwanda in August 2026. Second, has been the transformation of these consultations from biannual to annual events with the introduction of preparatory meetings by our committees of experts to enable a more structured dialogue and participation. Third, the need to combine regional strategy, national ownership of quick impact projects with an AU thought leadership as recommended during the Cameroon Amani Africa UN-OAU Policy Dialogue of 18 November 2025. This meeting, therefore, offers an opportunity to take stock of that cooperation and consider how it can be further strengthened. In our deliberations, we should focus not only on what institutions can do, but also on how our efforts can make a practical difference on the ground. This includes improving coordination across the peace, security and development pillars, supporting inclusive, national-led and owned processes, and ensuring that peacebuilding commitments are matched by sustained attention and resources. National ownership must remain central. Peacebuilding is most durable when it is shaped by the people and institutions closest to the challenges and when it reflects the voices of women, young people, and communities affected by conflict. Their participation is not an addition to peacebuilding. It is essential to its legitimacy and success. We must also continue to strengthen the links between conflict prevention, peace operations, transitions, and long-term recovery. Transitions require careful planning, close coordination, and sustained support so that gains insecurity can be consolidated through effective governance, social cohesion, and opportunity. The Peacebuilding Commission can play a valuable role in mobilizing attention and partnerships in support of these efforts, while the African Union and its regional mechanisms continue to advance context-specific responses. Excellencies, the challenges before us are complex, and no single institution or single continent can address them alone. Our partnership must therefore be guided by mutual respect, complementarity of efforts, and a shared commitment to deliver results. Let us use this meeting to exchange candidly identify practical areas of cooperation and reinforce the connection between political commitments and the realities faced by people affected by conflicts. I wish to thank all the delegations and officials whose work has made this meeting possible. I look forward to having constructive and forward-looking exchange. I now invite my co-chair to offer also to continue with the remarks.

I wish to thank our co-chair, the PSC of the African Union, for his very relevant and very important remarks. And we will now move to 3.1 of the agenda, strengthening follow-up to the AU-PSC-PBC partnership. And under this item, it is my pleasure to give the floor to His Excellency Ambassador Ban Ki-moon, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security of the African Union. to focus progress, a focus on progress achieved in the implementation of the outcomes of annual 2024-2025 consultations. You have the floor, Commissioner.

Co-Chairs, members of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, members of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, SRSG and head of UN OAU, ASGs here present, ladies and gentlemen. 20 years ago, in Banjul, The Gambia, the African Union adopted its policy framework on post-conflict reconstruction and development. This affirmed our responsibility to help rebuild societies, restore dignity, and secure lasting peace. For African communities, peace must bring safety and security. From conflict to coexistence, from the rage of war to robust response for peace, for recovery, and for resilience. We must continue to promote functional institutions and opportunities to rebuild livelihoods. Women must help shape recovery. Young people must be at the center of meaningful state in their future. Under the leadership and guidance of the AU Peace and Security Council, we can effectively advance this shared purpose. Coaches, The African Union Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development Policy has strengthened our efforts towards a framework of action. Most importantly, the nexus between peace, security and development has further advanced an integrated approach for peace and stability. Women and young people in particular are central to this endeavor. Our common foundation is clear. African countries must continue to lead and own peacebuilding initiatives, and international support is critical to strengthen their capacities. African Youth Ambassadors for Peace the Wise Youth Initiative, FEMWise, are all geared towards advancing and sustaining peace. We are equally in the African Union not leaving children behind when it comes to advancing peace. Complementary UN-supported programs have also enabled women and stakeholders to influence national peacebuilding priorities, either in Central African Republic, or mediate local disputes in the DRC. In Burundi, we continue to support national youth peace and security strategy to help strengthen youth participation. Our task is to ensure that these opportunities lead to lasting influence and peace. Our partnership has become more sustained with the Peacebuilding Commission, which will now deepen this cooperation through joint planning closer country level engagement, and more predictable funding that is mobilized together. Greater complementarity between the African Union Peace Fund and the UN Peace Building Fund could help turn nationally identified priorities into actual delivery. Co-chairs, we are investing steadily in peace on our continent. We have adopted quick impact projects to make impact, however little, however modest, on the ground. From Liberia to South Sudan, from Burundi to Mozambique, we are clearly supporting communities to rebuild devastation to progress. Excellencies, let me leave you with three critical points as you engage this afternoon. The first is to agree on joint planning, joint visiting to troubled communities. This is possible. The second is to strengthen coordinated country-level support at the request of member states. aligning our expertise and engagement with national peace building processes. Third, we must continue to advance dialogue between the peace fund of the AU and the UN peace building fund. In conclusion, excellencies, through the leadership of the AU Peace and Security Council, we are one, Africa, united for peace. and building sustainable peace. I thank you.

I thank the Ambassador and Commissioner Ban Cole Adele for his important remarks, and I now wish to invite Mr. Parfait Onanga Nyanga, Special Representative of the Secretary General to the African Union, who will focus his remarks on how the PBC, the African Union PBC, can together leverage benefits from progress in order to have more sustained commitment and more concrete to tangible cooperation as is called for in the review of the peacebuilding architecture. architecture. Ambassador, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is a tremendous honor and a true pleasure to once again be among you here, to be together under your chairmanship and with distinguished ambassadors and members of the Peace and Security Council, as well as the PBC. I wish, first and foremost, to recognize the presence among us of His Excellency, the Ambassador Roncolia de Olye, the Commissioner for Peace and Security, Political Affairs, Peace and Security of the African Union. And naturally, my two colleagues, the USG, ASG Elizabeth Spairer and Martin Kinali, whose support is, of course, of tremendous importance when it comes to the advancement of our joint efforts. And I would also like to commend the PBC. as well as the AU PSC to commend them on this important ninth annual consultations which are being held. This meeting is being held at a time when Africa and our world are facing tremendous challenges. Some might call these unprecedented in nature. And now is the time for your partnership, a partnership that is rooted in shared values, for this partnership to to shape our concerted efforts in order to position us, such as to ensure that we can adapt the cooperation between these two exceedingly important institutions in order to make headway in our efforts towards lasting peace in Africa. And you yourself, Mr. Chairman, emphasized the need the need to ensure that there be tangible follow-up to our cooperation, and I do believe that we all owe that when it comes to African nations and their peoples. English.

I already outlined progress since your last consultations, as you also reflected in the matrix of activities undertaken pursuant to last year's Durban Communique. Allow me to reiterate the important point he made on the commendable progress in maintaining regular high-level engagement between the AU and the UN to enhance coherence across peace and security initiatives. In this regard, since your last meeting, the Secretary General and the Chairperson of the AU Commission convened the 10th African Union-United Nations Annual Conference on May 13, 2026, in Addis Ababa. At that meeting, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union. as a cornerstone for advancing peace and security, human rights, sustainable development, and accelerating progress on AU Agenda 2063 and the 2030 UN Global Sustainable Agenda. They also agreed that cooperation between the two organizations rest on collective coordinated action to address complex, global and regional challenges. They further reaffirmed that the AU-UN partnership is strategic, multidimensional, and forward-looking, and called for deeper co-creation, enhanced collaboration, and continued innovation beyond 2026. The Secretary-General and the Chairperson also signed a joint declaration reaffirming the principles underpinning the three United Nations African Union joint frameworks. Another high-level engagement took place on May 20th, 2026, where Commissioner Ban Ki-moon and I convened the fourth annual retreat of the AU and UN special representatives and envoys in Libreville. And this is really underpinned by the common commitments to respond to the perennial question of how to prevent conflict. This is one of the most talked of and well-elaborated concepts. But frankly speaking, we are still in pain to know how to make it work. But still, our efforts are continuing. As with previous editions, this retreat provided participants with an opportunity to engage in deep discussions of the most pressing peace and security challenges facing the continent and how to best address them through a variety of political and peacebuilding interventions. The 25th and 26th meetings of the Joint Task Force on peace and security held respectively on 27 September 2025 and 16 February 2026 in Addis Ababa respectively, and New York, provided yet another opportunity for high-level engagement between the two organizations, focusing on addressing specific country situations and the resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government in Africa. These high-level engagements have now been institutionalized, forming critical pillars of our work planning and deliverables, and at enhancing the UN-AU partnership even further, hence ensuring it is more predictable, structured, and impactful. Excellencies, building on this progress and experience and drawing on the 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review, I would suggest four practical ways to give greater effect to your cooperation and building on the point just made by Commissioner Ban Ki-moon. First, you may consider ensuring more regular follow-up to your agreed priorities. Under your guidance, the UN Secretariat and AU Commission could build on the existing matrix to track agreed actions with focal points and indicative timelines. Brief updates to the chairs of the AU PSC and the PBC could highlight progress, obstacles, and matters requiring member states' attention between annual meetings. And the point that your chair, you made that there is a gap. We don't know what to do in between. Additionally, exchanging programs of work could identify opportunities for timely briefings and sharing analysis, including to inform the PBC's advice to the Security Council and General Assembly where appropriate or when the AU PSC is holding its own meeting on a country where there is a common engagement. Second, you may consider focusing cooperation on selected countries and regional priorities. Your agreed agenda identifies the Great Lakes, West Africa, and Central African Republic as potential areas for closer cooperation. These offer different opportunities addressing cross-border risks, supporting nationally owned prevention efforts, and sustaining peacebuilding gained during transitions. With the agreement on the countries concerned, the AUPSC and the PBC could identify a limited number of priorities where complementarity engagement would be useful. A joint or coordinated field visit, as just stated by Commissioner Vancoli, where mutually agreed could help clarify needs and mobilize follow-up support. UN resident coordinators, and this is one of the greatest advantage of the UN, but I can assure you that the one thing we know we do best these days in Addis Ababa is that Ambassador Bancouli has just told me, you have a better field coverage on the continent. And what we do is whenever we have early signals of situation developing in any countries, based on the information we receive from our resident coordinators, I make it a duty to communicate directly the information to Commissioner Banguele. And this is how we operate. And those UN resident coordinators, of course, will be enlightened by the priorities and strategies established by member states themselves. Um, let me go quickly to the third point, you may wish to pursue more regular exchanges on thematic issues of common interest, uh, such as DDRs. SSR, and of course, agreed by your two bodies. My last point is how do we connect better advocacy and partnerships with country-level follow-up? And I'm just mentioning this point very quickly, and maybe I should refer to the recently signed UN African Development Bank letter of intent of strategic cooperation on peace and resilience. which, in our view, offers a practical entry point, and you may wish to build on that. Chair, we're limited by time, but I just wanted to offer that what you do, your strategic partnership is absolutely vital, and you can count on the continued engagement of the UN both here at HQ and in the field to support your joint endeavors. And I thank you.

I would like to thank the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for his briefing on the state of cooperation between the PBC and the AUPSC and the need for synergies and partnerships. And I now give the floor to His Excellency Chisholm Onoi.

Thank you, Chair. Excellencies, we now move to agenda item 3.2 on regional peacebuilding and prevention approaches in support of nationally owned peacebuilding priorities. This session will consider how continental, regional, and subregional support can reinforce nationally owned and led prevention and peacebuilding priorities at the request of the member states concerned. West Africa and the Great Lakes provide entry points for identifying practical cooperation suited to different countries and regional contexts. It is therefore my pleasure, Excellencies, to invite His Excellency, Mr. Hehab Mustafa Awad Mustafa, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations as PBC member and former co-facilitator of the 2025 PBAR to present his perspectives. You have the floor.

Microphone, please. Microphone, please.

From Addis Ababa, members of the AU PSC. And we are happy to have you, and we are looking forward to a fruitful discussion in this context. We welcome the opportunity to exchange views on strengthening regional peacebuilding and prevention approaches on the continent. Our starting point is clear. Effective prevention and sustainable peace must be nationally owned and led, while benefiting from coordinated regional and international support. The role of the regional economic communities, African Union, the United Nations should be focused on reinforcing national capacities rather than substitute for them. Allow me to highlight a few considerations. First, I would like to draw attention that during the most recently held annual peacebuilding week, the first of such weeks as a follow-up to the peacebuilding architecture review of 2025. Egypt hosted a side event in the context of that peacebuilding week on the question of peace infrastructures in Africa. Also, our colleagues from Kenya hosted their own side event on national peacebuilding strategies and presented Kenya's own case in that context as well. Jointly together, we put together the outcomes and the conclusions by which some of our African colleagues, our representatives from the capitals, shared with us from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, and Kenya, most of all. We collected those conclusions and we made them available for the United Nations system, for the members of the Peacebuilding Commission, and we will be more than happy to make them available for the consideration of the African Union Commission and the AU PSC membership. because they do bring the discussion that we would like to have today and that presentation into a sharp focus of context-specific, tailored approach and nationally led peacebuilding examples from Africa and how the international community, whether through the United Nations tools or through the African regional economic communities, how they have been supportive for those nationally led priorities. So this is going to be very useful in order to put our discussion today into the perspective and of tried national peacebuilding strategies with the support of the international community. Second, the 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review, which Egypt had the honor to co-facilitate alongside Slovenia, reaffirmed the importance of supporting voluntary, nationally owned prevention and peacebuilding strategies. For Africa, this means moving beyond short-term interventions towards building sustainable national peace infrastructures, including institutions, capacities for mediation, capacities for dialogue, reconciliation, DDR, security sector reform, and rule of law. Those capacities have to be built within our own national institutions in our own countries. Once again, there are quite a few examples and successful examples that have been already in place in our continent. Second, The African Union and regional economic communities have important comparative advantages in addressing shared challenges, including the spillover of conflicts, illicit arms flows, transnational threats and displacement, those spillover beyond the borders of one country in and within the subregion. So the competitive advantage here of our regional economic communities, but also of the African Union Commission and the AUPSC, is to address those sub-regional implications of certain national challenges. As mentioned by His Excellency, the AUPSC Chair, in West Africa and the Sahel, Greater emphasis should be placed on prevention, institutional resilience, and addressing the structural drivers of instability, taking into consideration that in West Africa and the Sahel, the question of counterterrorism and the policies of counterterrorism should really take a very specific and tailored approach, regional and subregional approach to addressing and combating terrorism. In the Great Lakes region, regional engagement should complement nationally led processes, and we have the ICGLR, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Regions. We have the framework for cooperation supported by the United Nations Security Council. But those processes need to be focused again on DDR, reconciliation, and post-conflict recovery. From a regional perspective, we understand, of course, Eastern DRC is at the core of the challenges of the Great Lakes region, but the spillover effect of whatever is happening in Eastern DRC affect other countries in the region, and they need to be addressed as a sub-regional challenge. The role of the special envoy of the United Nations for the Great Lakes region comes in sharp focus in addressing those subregional efforts, in addition to the national peacebuilding efforts led by the government of the DRC itself through their own post DDR, their national DDR strategy. Third, we should strengthen the operational link between the African Union post conflict reconstruction and development policy as highlighted by the, uh, uh, Ambassador Bankoli to translating the revised AU PCRD policy into concrete support for African countries. So in addition to the original policy that was adopted in Banjul, as Commissioner Bangou mentioned, 20 years ago, three years ago, the Commission has put in place a revised policy that more or less adapted the original policy to the evolving international discourse on peacebuilding as adopted and as addressed by the United Nations. So already we're bringing the United Nations and the African Union closer together through the revised AU-PCRD policy. We therefore encourage closer institutional cooperation between the AU-PCRD Center, which is in Cairo, takes place in Cairo, and the UN Peacebuilding and Peace Support Office, including joint capacity building programs, exchange of expertise and support for national conflict prevention and peacebuilding strategies. We look forward to a more robust engagement of the AUC-PCRD Center in the future UN peacebuilding architecture activities, most notably the annual Peacebuilding Week. We would like to see the AUC-PCRD here presenting the African perspective from the perspective of the AU-PCRD revised policy. Fourth, the PPC can provide an important platform for connecting national and regional priorities within the wider UN system, African and international financial institutions, and development partners. We should also explore practical working methods for the AUPSC and the PBC, how they can jointly identify emerging peacebuilding priorities. I think USG Onanga has alluded to that in his intervention. So that we ensure that the African perspectives are adequately reflected in the PBC's advice to the Security Council and to the General Assembly. Let's not forget that the PBC has the mandate to advise both the Security Council and the General Assembly. And it is through our working methods, our partnership between the PBC and the AUPSC that we can ensure that the African perspectives and the AUPSC perspectives are factored into the advisory opinions submitted to the Security Council and the General Assembly. Finally, The objective of what we are trying to do should not be to create additional mechanisms or additional reporting, but to make existing institutions and existing agreements between the PBC and the EUPSC more effective, and with national ownership and with the role of the countries or the subregions concerned in the center of those efforts. African leadership should guide the evolution of the development of clear policies to address and build sustainable capacities. We stand ready as Egypt to contribute to this effort, including through our role as coordinator of the African groups Peace Building Caucus here in New York and our role in advancing the AUC PCRD agenda since President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt is the champion of the African Union for post-conflict reconstruction and development. I thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank you, Your Excellency, Mr. Ihab Mustafa, Awad Mustafa. for your remarks. I'm now pleased to invite His Excellency Ambassador Nassi Aminu, Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the African Union, to share his perspectives and what lessons from African-led prevention, peacebuilding, and post-conflict recovery can inform future PSC-PBC cooperation. You have the floor, Your Excellency.

Thank you. Excellencies, coaches, dear friends, if there is one lesson Africa has learned from decades of prevention, peacemaking, and peacebuilding, it's that peace cannot be imported. and that it cannot be sustained by one institution alone. It takes root when national ownership is respected, regional realities are understood, and continental and international support aligns with priorities of the member states concerned. This is why the African Union Peace and Security Council sees the link among national, subregional, regional and continental efforts as not merely a matter of coordination. For us, it's a strategic necessity. When these levels are connected, prevention becomes earlier, peacebuilding becomes more coherent and support to Member States becomes more practical. When they are disconnected, we risk duplication, fragmented advice and initiatives that may be well-intended but not sufficiently anchored in realities on the ground. Excellencies, West Africa offers important lessons in this regard, as the region continues to face complex pressures, including political transitions, governance challenges, terrorism, violent extremism, organized crime, and humanitarian stress. Yet, it also demonstrates that African-led responses can make a difference when political engagement, security cooperation, and peacebuilding are treated as part of the same continuum. The experience of the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad Basin, or MNJTF, remains particularly instructive. It shows that regional solidarity, when supported by affected member states and partners, can help contain violence, protect communities, and create space for stabilization and recovery. Nonetheless, the same experience also reminds us that security gains must be consolidated through governance, livelihoods, reconciliation, and the restoration of public services. The Great Lakes region demands sustained and coordinated engagement. Its challenges are interconnected and transnational. spanning governance, illegal exploitation of natural resources, the activities of armed groups, persistent mistrust and fragile regional confidence. In such a context, peacebuilding cannot be treated as a post-conflict exercise alone. It must be part of all efforts geared towards prevention, diplomacy, regional dialogue and long-term institution building. This is why the AU Peace and Security Council will continue to insist that greater support is needed for peace-building efforts in the Great Lakes, just as continued support is also required for the stabilization and recovery in the Lake Chad Basin. These regions show, each in its own way, that peace building is most effective when it accompanies political processes and respond to the needs of the communities. Excellencies, it's imperative that the Peace Building Commission, the United Nations and partners, as well as the African Union and its regional economic communities and regional mechanisms, particularly those with statutory mandate on issues related to governance, peace and security, prioritize building a stronger chain of support around nationally owned priorities. This requires moving from parallel engagement to joined up accompaniment. It means listening first to national authorities and societies, understanding the political economy of conflict, and then bringing the right tools at the right moment in the form of political support, mediation, institutional strengthening, transitional justice, peace dividends, financing, expertise, and peer learning, among others. The Africa-led experiences carry a clear message. Our message is that prevention, peacemaking, and peacebuilding are not and should not be treated as separate chapters. They are part of one continuum. A country emerging from conflict still needs prevention. A country in transition needs peacebuilding before violence escalates. A country that has achieved stability still needs trust, institutions and opportunity to avoid relapse. Our cooperation must therefore be flexible enough to support different trajectories without imposing one model on very different realities. This is where cooperation between the AU Peace and Security Council, and the Peacebuilding Commission can bring real added value. The PSC brings political legitimacy, continental perspective, and proximity to African peace and security dynamics. The PBC brings convening power, experience in sustaining peace, and access to broader UN peacebuilding tools. Together, they can translate national and regional priorities into coherent political, technical and financial support, aligned with the AU, PCRD policy and relevant regional and sub-regional frameworks. Looking ahead, our ambition should be simple but transformative. It should be focused on making the AU-PSC-UN-PBC cooperation more continuous, practical and field-oriented. We should not only depend on our annual exchanges. We should make contact through our designated focal points more regular. We should not focus only on general expressions of support. We should be open to shared analysis, selected regional priorities, and follow-up on implementation. We should not focus only on discussions in Addis Ababa and New York. We should work towards stronger connections with regional economic communities and regional mechanisms, particularly those with statutory mandate on issues related to governance, peace and security, through UN regional platforms and national actors. Excellencies, within the context of the UN80 initiative, this is also an opportunity to rethink how multilateral support is delivered. Africa does not need more layers of coordination. It needs smarter coordination, anchored on national ownership, connected to regional realities, and capable of mobilizing timely support before crises become irreversible. It's therefore the view of the African Union Peace and Security Council that the future of prevention and peacebuilding in Africa will depend on our ability to connect political vision with operational action. If we succeed in linking national ownership, regional leadership, continental legitimacy, and international support, our cooperation will not only accompany peace processes, it will help anticipate risks, sustain transitions, and build the foundations of peace before the cost of inaction becomes too high. I thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you. His Excellency Ambassador Nassy Amino for his remarks. And I hand over the moderation of the next segment to the PBC chair. You have the floor.

Thank you very much, co-chair.

Excellencies, we're now going to move to agenda item 3.3, which is financing and partnerships. This sequence is about the way the PBC and the AU PSC can consolidate strategic partnerships and financing based around the priorities of prevention and peacebuilding identified on a national level. For this dialogue, it's my honor to invite His Excellency Mr. Rikllef Johannes Butin, Permanent Representative of Germany, to provide his point of view in his capacity as Vice Chair of the PBC and Chair of the 2025, um, of our meet- uh, 2025 of our meeting in Addis Ababa. Mr. Ambassador, you have the floor.

Chairman, thank you.

Ambassador Bankole Ayoye, SRS G Onanga Anyanga, ASG Spehar and Kimani, Excellencies. I would first like to thank Ambassador Omar Hilal and Ambassador Churchill Evumbui Monono for convening today's meeting and to extend a particular word of welcome to all the colleagues who have traveled from Addis for this meeting today. It's a particular honor for me to present today on the topic of financing and partnerships as the PBC-AU partnership has been one of our priorities in the PBC. particularly during Germany's chairmanship of the PBC last year in 2025. I look back with great appreciation to last year's consultative meeting between the AU PSC and the PBC in Addis Ababa, which I had the honor to co-chair. And I would like to thank again Ambassador Mbo Mbonono again for welcoming and hosting my delegation and myself so graciously in Addis. Together, we renewed our commitment to enhance coordination, national ownership, sustainable financing, and inclusive peacebuilding that empowers women, youth, and local communities. And I look forward to build on these shared commitments today and deepen our partnership further. The topic of financing and partnerships is of particular importance. The two are intrinsically linked, neither can be effective one without the other. Both are essential to make financing more coherent, predictable and impactful, and of course, also to mobilize funding. Greater AU-UN partnership is needed to overcome some of the hurdles that we are facing in peace financing. International financing becomes tighter, but the demand for investments in peace is growing. The number of conflicts is rising. But fragile contexts are challenging environments for IFIs and private sector actors, especially when trying to scale up best practices. And having many stakeholders like IFIs, donors, and regional actors involved requires coherence, but oftentimes not everyone speaks the same language, if you will. Germany, as the biggest cumulative donor of the Peacebuilding Fund, has been actively engaged in developing the instruments needed for overcoming these hurdles. This is why we hosted the first Peace Finance Forum here in New York together with PPSO, with Norway and Japan in April this year, and partnerships that matter for financing were a particular focus. I would like to highlight three priorities with regard to the peace financing partnerships of the AU and the UN. First, We need to enhance AU-UN coordination to create synergies between the different instruments that we have already have at our disposal. And today provides a great opportunity to discuss, among others, how the Peacebuilding Fund and the AU Peace Fund can complement each other. Stronger coordination between political engagement and financing, for example, and this has been mentioned before from the podium, for example, Joint country visits and joint analysis of crisis contacts and financing gaps would allow for greater coherence and streamlining of our efforts while respecting national ownership. Secondly, the AU and UN should deepen their engagement with the African Development Bank and other financial institutions to ensure financing is sustainable. Just recently, we've seen the signing of a letter of intent between the DSG and the African Development Bank And this is a very important step for greater coordination, for joint analysis of conflict settings, and for mobilizing innovative financing for peace-positive investments, including the Peacebuilding Fund. And going forward, the AU PSC and the PBC can facilitate more systematic engagement with regional development banks. Thirdly, we jointly need to also invest in new partnerships, because we need to broaden the dialogue. and the funding base for peace financing. The AU PSC and the PBC can play an important advocacy role in this regard. What we need to do is to forge new and innovative alliances, including strong public-private partnerships, because we've seen that small-scale peace-positive investments can really be key to sustainable peacebuilding and prevention efforts on the ground. And just by way of example, together with UNCDF and PBPSO, we, Germany, have grown our joint initiative, which is called Investing for Peace, with a goal to become a trailblazer for peace-positive investments. And our team is currently preparing its pilot investment in Somalia, a context with lots of potential for successful investments. Ladies and gentlemen, the upcoming review of the PBF strategy provides an excellent opportunity to further strengthen the PBF's comparative advantage. Over the years, experience across different country contexts has shown that peacebuilding financing can be particularly effective when it is grounded in the principle of national ownership. And the Central African Republic is a particularly compelling example of how peace positive investments can deliver results when they're flexible enough to respond to national contexts and priorities and implemented under government leadership with technical expertise from the UN and other partners. And this was underscored by Minister Mandaba from the Central African Republic during an event that we hosted on peace financing together with PBPSO during high level week. And he made that point very forcefully. Excellencies, colleagues, the value of our partnership will be measured by results that we are able to deliver on the ground. And this is why we particularly value the dialogue with those countries who partner with the UN, including with the PBF and the PBC. I would like to thank all of you very much, and I'm looking forward to a very fruitful discussion.

I thank his excellency for his briefing and it's now my pleasure to give the floor to the ambassador. You have the floor, sir.

Thank you.

The signing of peace agreements usually elicit hope and aspirations for peace. The communities, the people, young and old, look forward to changed livelihoods. It could be the change in terms of new infrastructure, new administration, livelihoods replacing weapons. However, for Africa, that responsibility must begin at home. Financing recovery through national budgets, protecting public resources, mobilizing African expertise, and making institutions work and accountable form part of that ownership. Hence, ownership must be visible, in what we contribute and what we sustain. Co-chairs, through the African Union Peace Fund, full responsibility in continental expression has been given through window two of the fund on institutional capacity building and quick impact projects. We must finance continuity for peace. And this is a strong message. Or else, or else, the architecture we are building for peace building in the African Union at the UN level will be hollow. The plans we design will only be on paper. The next step, therefore, is to connect our efforts to identify what is financed, close the gap, and ensure that responsibilities transfer to national institutions with adequate resources. But here's the crunch. Co-chairs, the obstacles are real. What are the challenges? constrained budgets, fragmented projects, different reporting mechanisms, and developing financing that arrives many times too late. We hear about in shedding. That should not be at the expense of livelihoods and people. So how do we address The financing gap. The Ambassador of Germany has really stated most of the issues and I will not repeat them. But let me emphasize a few. Domestic resource mobilization is critical. Investing in recovery is equally important. Supporting initiatives such as the African facility to support inclusive transitions in cases of unconstitutional changes of government is very necessary. This facility was co-created by the African Union and UNDP, and we are proud today that many in the room continue to support this initiative. It is therefore necessary to see new horizon. And one of the areas where the African Union is zeroing on through its working group on post-conflict reconstruction and development is to attract the development finance institutions, not just the World Bank or the IMF, but particularly African development finance institutions. It is in this thread that we welcome the newly created Alliance for African Multilateral Financing Institutions. And in Accra, next month, we'll be having the first ever in a long time, joint ministers of finance and ministers of foreign affairs in an extraordinary summit or extraordinary meeting of the executive council. The purpose is clear. We have to rework and strategically take stock of the African Union Peace Fund. And as the Ambassador of Germany stated, yes, as you review the PBF strategy, as it takes shape, we also invite the Fund and the AU Peace Fund to explore complementarity in delivering peace support to our people. Finally, let me say clearly that any partnership for peacebuilding without adequate, predictable, or flexible resources will be shallow. That partnership is a two-way street. It's not just our partners, but also ourselves within the African continent. And that is why from the 1st of November, we will be rolling out for the first time a post-conflict reconstruction and development month to remind ourselves as Africans, as the African Union, as the AU Peace and Security Council, that we have responsibilities to build peace and sustain peace. I thank you.

I thank Commissioner Bonoli for his statements. And I'll now move on to item four to His Excellency, the co-chair, who will be chairing this item.

Thank you. Now, it is my pleasure to move to agenda item four and invite interventions by esteemed delegates. Kindly indicate your request to speak by pressing the microphone button on your console. Note that the speakers will be alternated two at a time between the AUPSC and the Peace Building Commission. In order to allow as many interventions as possible May I remind delegations that statements should be no longer than three minutes. At that time, the microphone light will blink to remind speakers of that limit. I wish to also draw your attention to the guiding questions that are contained in the annotated agenda as well as the note prepared by the two secretariats. I encourage you to be practical so that our meeting this year rise up to the ambitions we set for ourselves to move this partnership to the next level. I now wish to give the floor to the Ambassador of Algeria, followed by the Dr. Kungu.

Excellencies, co-chairs, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished participants, I would like to thank the chairperson of the African Union Peace and Security Council and the chair of the Peace Building Commission for convening this important consultation. Algeria, as member of the Peace and Security Council and, until recently, a member of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, reaffirms its commitment to the AU-UN partnership, particularly the partnership bringing these two distinguished bodies together today. This commitment stems from our convictions that complementary action, when placed at the service of Africa and its people, can transcend the peace and security challenges facing the continent. Excellencies, after eight PSC-PBC consultation meetings, what have we concretely achieved together? A responsible and clear answer to this question will enable this consultation to move beyond good intentions towards practical, achievable and tangible actions guided by three principles: complementarity, subsidiarity, and pragmatism. First, complementarity in action. We must pool our efforts and make use of the comparative advantages offered by the two organizations. This necessarily requires smoother information sharing between the two bodies, the organization of joint missions, and the avoidance of duplicating ongoing initiatives and operations. so that post-conflict reconstruction becomes an opportunity for peace and stability in all the African countries concerned. Second, subsidiarity. Conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and post-conflict reconstruction are first and foremost the responsibility of states. National configurations must be voluntary and developed at the request of the countries concerned. Based on these principles, regional economic communities and regional mechanisms with the statutory mandate in peace and security play a valuable complementary advisor role because of their proximity to national contexts. In post-conflict reconstructions and peace-building efforts, they support the African Union, whose instruments and mechanisms give the post-conflict reconstruction and peace-building operations a continent-wide reach. Its effectiveness could be further enhanced by strengthening synergies with the United Nations. In this context, Algeria emphasizes the need for coherent coordination of peacebuilding efforts at the continental, regional, and national levels, including with the United Nations regional platforms under the UN 80 Initiative. Third, pragmatism in the nature of the action undertaken. As Algeria advocated during its presidency of the Peace and Security Council in August 2026, we support the adoption of simple and realistic measures that translate into quick impact projects that have a tangible impact on local populations. In this regard, we encourage stronger cooperation between the AU Center for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development and the Peacebuilding and Peace Support Office. Naturally, any cooperation must respect the mandates and decision-making process of each body. Pragmatism in financing is equally important. Sustainable peace requires predictable and adequate funding. We must finance continuity for peace. We must in this regard support greater complementarity between the Peacebuilding Fund, Window 2 of the African Union Peace Fund, the African Development Bank, and other African and international financial institutions. This support must follow priorities defined by the countries themselves, while avoiding fragmentation, duplication, and externally imposed approaches. In conclusion, while reaffirming its firm commitment to contributing to this collective effort, Algeria believes that peacebuilding in Africa will be all the more effective when its priorities are nationally determined and its design is African-led. Finally, Algeria supports the adoption of the joint communique as agreed upon by both parties and proposes including in the document a joint field mission to a country seeking for peacebuilding support. I thank you for your kind attention.

Thank you, Algeria. And we now give the floor to the Dr. Congo.

Thank you very much, Your Excellency, Chair. And I will salute, of course, the two co-chairs and would, in the benefit of time, go straight to the few remarks I wanted to share with this Assembly. My first remark would be that for peace to be built, you need peace first. So I think the priority of priorities as we embark in reflecting on our best to build and consolidate peace is to take all the necessary measures in prevention, in mediations. And in the case of the Great Lakes, because that is one of the region being selected, we have got peace processes going on. We have the Washington Agreement, we have the Doha processes, we have the Lome mediation of the AU. So let's invest in ensuring that these peace processes are consolidated and bring the much needed peace for Eastern DRC and the region of the Great Lake. My second remark would be our distinguished colleague of Egypt mentioned the fact that there were four member states who met here and presented their experience. I think it would be good to have a compendium of best practices that have been experienced in some African countries, and I will even go beyond Africa. I think that there have been very successful peace-building processes outside of Africa. So a compendium of best practices will be helpful. My third remark will be, it is, we are speaking about program post-conflict that should be nationally owned and regionally owned. Because in the case of the Great Lakes, you need indeed to ensure that all the countries affected by the conflict would pull together towards not only consolidating the peace, but also ensuring joint prosperity, joint economic development. And here, let me give the example of what used to be one of the major pivot of joint cooperation in economic development, which is the Community of.

Great Lakes Region States.

Building a process, if you want to look into perspective for the Great Lakes region, reconciliation and moving towards a common prosperity. I think one of the concrete action should be to re- put back on track the community, the Zeta, the La Region, the Grand Lac, and that community had a sub regional development bank. that was funding a lot of cooperative economic development in agro business, industry, and many other areas. And this will be a good vehicle to relaunch economic social development in that Great Lake region where potential exists. And that could absorb the returning IDPs, the returning refugees, that would rebuild reconciliations among communities across borders of that very sensitive part of the continent. So another last point I would like to suggest, we say, we talk about nationally owned and regionally owned. I think that we have in each of the region of the Great Lake post-conflict development agencies that deal with DDR, demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration. I would strongly suggest that the PCB program should aim at bringing together the administrations dealing with DDR and post-conflict reconstructions in the Great Lake regions. Because it's well and good for me to speak about those priorities here, but I don't have the same insight and familiarity with what it really entails at the grassroot level to organize effective programs that would sustain peace, that would give peace dividend to community affected by war and that would also participate to reconciliations and appeasement among communities in that region. I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Dr. Kongo. I will, at this juncture, alternate by giving the floor to the PBC members. First, to Brazil, that is a PBC Vice Chair, and then second to Croatia, which is also a Vice Chair. So the Ambassador of Brazil, you have the floor.

Dear co-chairs, excellencies, distinguished colleagues, we welcome the holding of this annual consultative meeting between the African Union Peace and Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission. Lasting peace requires national ownership as well as sustained regional and international support the peace building architecture review for 2025 has generated fresh momentum enhancing our cooperation by explicitly encouraging the PBC to deepen its strategic partnership with the AUPSC, specifically by ensuring follow-up to the implementation of the recommendations. We believe that it is now incumbent upon us to translate this commitment into more concrete action. We propose the conduct of joint quarterly meetings at the level of experts between the AUPSC and the PBC. These meetings will help to ensure follow-up to recommendations, to identify gaps in their implementation, as well as to deepen our cooperation. And they could be rooted in regular exchanges between the PAPS and the PBPSO, leveraging their exchange of information and their strategic expertise. And this would ensure that there be continuity in work between the annual consultations by explicitly defining priorities, responsibilities, and deadlines, and respecting mandates of the two organs and operating within existing resources. Prevention needs to remain at the heart of our collective efforts. Peacebuilding contributes to bringing together challenges related to security and development and helping to achieve those tracks. And this cannot be limited to post-conflict situations. We need to invest in combating root causes of conflict, strengthening national institutions, Development and resilience pre-crisis, at the pre-crisis level, regional and subregional organizations at the African level play a vital role in this regard. They have deep know-how, and they are aware of the realities at the local level, as well as ability. They have the ability to provide support for national initiatives. support that reflects and is tailored to local contexts. The PBC can contribute to through mobilization and consultative operations, and at the request of concerned countries, it can support the crafting of national strategies for prevention, facilitate exchange of experience and best practices, mobilize the United Nations and resident coordinators, and foster cooperation. Women, young people, and local stakeholders in peacebuilding also need to be fully and genuinely brought in throughout these processes. There need to be adequate and adequate, predictable, and sustainable financing for peacebuilding. Greater coordination between the PBF and the Peace Fund of the African Union, as well as regional development banks, can help to mobilize complementary resources for the advancement of national priorities. Sustainable financing is of particular importance. during and following transition periods in order to sustain peacebuilding gains and to enhance national capabilities. Our goal should not be to create new bureaucratic structures, but rather to see to it that commitments made are cemented through tangible results for countries and people. We remain committed to working alongside African partners, so to advance African efforts for peacebuilding and for peacekeeping. Thank you.

Thank you, Brazil. I now invite the representative of the Republic of Croatia, a PBC Vice Chair, to address the Council and the Commission.

Thank you, Mr. Chair of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission of the United Nations. Croatia welcomes the close partnership between the African Union Peace and Security Council and the UN Peacebuilding Commission. Strengthening this partnership was one of Croatia's priorities during our chairmanship of the PBC in 2023. We are therefore pleased to take part in this ninth annual consultative meeting. The two bodies have built a useful foundation for cooperation. Regular consultations have helped align assessments, identify common prevention priorities, and strengthen cooperation between the African Union's Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development Center and the UN Peacebuilding and Peace Support Office. This is particularly important during political transitions and efforts to strengthen national institutions. But we can do more. Our cooperation should not be limited to one meeting a year. We need regular contact, a better exchange of information, and closer coordination throughout the year. Croatia sees three practical ways to achieve this. First, we should establish quarterly exchanges to share assessments, discuss emerging risks, and learn from African-led prevention and recovery efforts. Second, we should identify a small number of country situations where closer cooperation could make a real difference. With the consent of the countries concerned, the African Union's PSC and the PBC could coordinate their contributions to discussions in the Security Council and the General Assembly. This should go hand in hand with closer cooperation between their respective support structures, particularly on political transitions, institution building, and engagement with local communities, women, youth, and other relevant stakeholders. And third, we should consider a joint field visit. Seeing developments on the ground would help us better understand national priorities and demonstrate our shared commitment to supporting them. We should also strengthen the links between continental, regional, national, and local efforts. The African Union, regional economic communities, and mechanisms, the UN regional platforms can help countries put their own prevention strategies into practice. This means sharing expertise, connecting early warning with early action, and ensuring that national peace-building efforts are inclusive and locally grounded. Experiences from West Africa and the Great Lakes region offer valuable lessons in prevention, institution building, and sustaining peace. Financing is another important part of this picture. The African Union's Peace Fund and the UN Peace Building Fund, the African Development Bank, and other financial institutions should work in a more coordinated way, guided by priorities identified by the countries themselves. Experience in the Central African Republic and other transition settings show the value of aligning resources to support national institutions, stabilization, and longer-term development. Our goals should be straightforward: less fragmentation and duplication, stronger national ownership, and better use of available resources. The African Union and the United Nations each bring distinct strengths. By working more closely together, we can make our support more consistent, more responsive to national priorities, and more effective in preventing conflict and sustaining peace. I thank you.

Yes, thank you, Croatia. Now it is the turn of the AU Peace and Security Council once more. And I now call on the Ambassador of Benin to make a statement.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Co-Chair, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Banan welcomes the convening of this 9th Annual Consultative Meeting, which represents an important opportunity to enhance complementarity between our two bodies, as well as to make our partnership more operational in nature. Banan wishes to set out the following three observations, and they have to do with a follow-up to the partnership between the PBC and the PSC. We believe that our cooperation needs to be part of an approach of having measurable results. In addition to annual consultations, there is a need to have a follow-up mechanism which allows for evaluation of the implementation of prior commitments, identification of difficulties encountered and for thought to be given to and priorities to be highlighted. linked together with specific deadlines and responsibility. In this regard, the establishment of a matrix for follow-up to commitments is, in our view, very important, and BNA firmly supports this initiative. We also support the idea of having frequent, regular meetings between the secretariats of the two bodies, as well as joint targeted initiatives, particularly on the ground, in order to enhance our initiatives to reflect national realities. Turning now to regional approaches for prevention and peacebuilding, we believe that added value from a partnership lies in its ability to bring together regional responses and priorities that are set out by the concerned states. So there is therefore a need to enhance complementarity between the continental, regional, and national mechanisms while prioritizing an integrated approach which brings together conflict prevention, governance, development, and the enhancement of institutions. or institutions should contribute to tackling the root causes of crisis rather than managing the consequences of these crises while fully respecting the principle of national ownership. Turning now to financing and partnership, we wish to stress that the effectiveness of peacebuilding efforts hinges on predictable, efficient and sustainable financing, and we believe it is it is vital to better coordinate the operations of the PBF and to coordinate those with the AU PSC as well as development partners. And this is necessary to reduce fragmentation of support and to address the needs that are identified by states. The experience of the CAR particularly highlights the need to preempt financing shortfalls during transition periods in order to sustain gains and to prevent any relapse into conflict, we remain firmly convinced that our partnership can only be fruitful if there are concerted initiatives, if there is a lasting support for states, and if tangible results are achieved for the benefit of the people. Thank you, co-chair.

Thank you, Ambassador Evi Jokwe Benin. And they have now called on the Ambassador of Gabon, Ambassador Lili, to make her statement.

Thank you very much, Mr. Co-Chair. It is with a great deal of interest that we have been Listening to the statements delivered by the featured speakers, they referred to deadlines related to partnership and financing for peacebuilding. And our experience, this experience of the Central African Republic is inspiring in this respect. Co-chairs, the persistent nature of security-related challenges in Africa means that frequently we have to persistently tackle security-related challenges and we frequently have to react act, rather than enhancing preventive measures or enhancement of achieving stability. And yet, we do not have a choice here. As is the case with peacekeeping, peacebuilding is an overriding need. And despite the proliferating crises endured by multilaterals and today and financial challenges, we need to act decisively and we need to act together in order to surmount these challenges. And in this regard, Gabon welcomes the efforts of the African Union, the UN, and other partners to facilitate a coordinated approach to peacebuilding. And this needs to be rooted in national ownership as well as a continental leadership. and the priorities that are set out by local communities who are the main victims of conflict. And in this regard, two priorities warrant particular attention. The first priority is as follows. Guaranteeing predictable, flexible, and sustainable financing. The reshaping of international financial mechanisms is vital. In the CAR, for example, the rigid nature of procedures frequently limits the ability of stakeholders to adapt to realities on the ground. The PBC and PSC need to advocate for more nimble mechanisms that can provide sustained support for countries as they extricate themselves from crisis. We need to avoid financing that comes linked to conditions conditions that fail to reflect realities on the ground. Second, enhancing national ownership and reforms to build upon peace and financing for development to post-conflict states need to be fully engaged in rebuilding economies in accordance with their national priorities. security sector reform, disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and repatriation, as well as transitional justice, all need to be part of national leadership efforts. Lastly, we underscore the importance of the peace development nexus within post-conflict landscapes. Peacebuilding cannot be limited to security and military-related interventions. This needs to be rooted in a comprehensive global approach tackling the root causes of conflict and sustaining gains from political agreements. We need to -- we believe that international partners should increase financing for quick impact projects, specifically for generating jobs for young people, restoring the authority of the state through rebuilding basic service delivery. We believe that a greater cooperation between the CCP -- between the PBC and the AU PSC, while avoiding duplication and finding ways to have innovative financing will help us to achieve our goals. Thank you, co-chair.

Thank you, Gabon. And we are now swinging back to the Peacebuilding Commission. And now I invite the representative of Bangladesh, vice chair of the PBC, to address us now.

Co-chairpersons, excellencies, friends, as vice chair of the Peacebuilding

Commission, I extend a warm welcome to the chair and distinguished members of the African Union Peace and Security Council. I congratulate His Excellency Ambassador Hilali and His Excellency Ambassador Iwambwe Munono for convening this meeting.

These regular meetings are valuable opportunities to exchange views and further strengthen our cooperation.

I would add that

this meeting is particularly significant at a moment of unprecedented turmoil in multilateral cooperation and international peace and security.

It is now more important than ever to

redouble our efforts to embed our shared values, principles, goals, and partnerships in mutual respect, understanding, and commitment to international

law.

Bangladesh's engagement with Africa is grounded in years of solidarity and support on the ground.

We remain one of the largest contributors to the UN peacekeeping missions in Africa.

Appreciating the nexus between peacekeeping and peacebuilding, our peacekeepers have served African communities not only by maintaining peace and security, but also by protecting civilians, facilitating humanitarian assistance, supporting local institutions, repairing and building essential infrastructure, and helping communities to gain access to essential services. Peace cannot be sustained by security measures alone, nor can it be imported or implanted by others. We believe peacebuilding strategies and processes must be nationally led and owned, rooted in the priorities of the affected countries and communities, backed with support and assistance from regional, continental, and international organizations and other states, and in line with the fundamental principles of international law and cooperation.

Successful peacebuilding requires that the voices of women, youth, and those most vulnerable and marginalized must be heard.

They must be meaningfully engaged in peacebuilding processes and policymaking.

However, experience shows that this is more easily said than achieved. And so through our joint efforts, we should provide concrete help to make the national prevention and peacebuilding strategies more inclusive.

As noted by the co-chairs, the partnership of the PBC and the AU PSC is well recognized.

We must now turn to concrete and practical measures to convert our partnership into real results on the ground.

Various good suggestions have been made today.

I won't repeat them, but I will say, let's move forward with them.

The effective implementation of the 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review will be very important in this context.

We note that despite collective commitment to peacebuilding, financing remains a major challenge.

While African countries have been receiving more

support from the Peacebuilding Fund, in the current financial context and growing unmet needs, we agree

it is essential to search for innovative, flexible resource mobilization from a wide range of sources, public and private, nationally, subregionally, regionally, and internationally. Let me conclude by reiterating Bangladesh's commitment to further strengthening and deepening the partnership between AUPSC and PBC. Thank you.

Thank you, Bangladesh. I now give the floor to Somalia, Somalia PBC. Is your mic on? Try to be more audible.

Okay.

My apology. Co-chairs, thank you for giving me the floor. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we met at a time when the need to prevent conflict is matched by a clear opportunity to strengthen how we work together. Experience across Africa has shown that sustainable peace cannot be imposed from outside or secured through short-term responses. It must be nationally owned, supported by regional institutions, and sustained through consistent international partnership. This consultation is therefore more than an exchange of views. It's an opportunity to turn our shared commitment into a practical cooperation while drawing on the AU's leadership and the knowledge and proximity of the regional economic communities and regional mechanisms, as well as the advisory, convening, advocacy, and resource mobilization roles of the Peacebuilding Commission. Allow me to offer four points for our consideration. First, we should strengthen support for the nationally owned prevention strategies. The AU regional economic communities and regional mechanisms, as well as the BBC should coordinate assistance to member states that voluntarily seek support in developing and implementing prevention framework. These efforts must respond to national priorities and strengthen the existing institutions. Second, we must make better use of the regional knowledge and capacity. Regional economic communities and regional mechanisms are often closest to emerging risk and best placed to understand local and cross-border dynamics. They can support early action, facilitate regional cooperation, and promote the exchange of lessons and good practices. Third, we need stronger support for the AU's post-conflict reconstruction and development agenda. The BBC can help address financing gaps, support countries undergoing political and security transition, and reduce the risk of relapse. This cooperation should connect continental priorities with the sub-regional and national efforts. Fourth, engagement between AU, PSC, and BBC should extend beyond annual consultations. We should improve regular information sharing, strengthen follow-up on agreed actions, and pursue practical joint initiatives, including a possible joint field visits. We should also identify and address the barriers that have limited deeper cooperation. Excellencies, peace is sustained when national ownership, African leadership, and international partnership work as one. It's important to turn today's commitments together into actions preventing conflict and strengthening resilience and securing lasting peace across Africa. I thank you.

Thank you, Somalia, PBC. We now move to the Peace and Security Council again. And we are starting with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, followed by Somalia.

Thank you, Co-Chairs. Please allow me to share a few remarks on how to boost synergies between the AU Peace and Security Council and the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, in particular in terms of financing and partnership. The vision of the Kingdom of Morocco is based on a profound and unwavering belief that lasting peace in Africa must be brought about by the Africans themselves and through a comprehensive approach that links peace, security, and development together and provides a central position to national ownership, to African solidarity, and to partnerships based on trust and shared responsibility. This vision was expressed by the Peace, Security, and Development Nexus of the African Union conference, as well as the commitments of the Kingdom to peacebuilding and our contributions to the African Union Peacebuilding Fund. This reflects Morocco's commitment to strengthening African capacities and to mobilizing predictable means to serve the priorities of our continent. The drafting of the Nexus project that is adapted to different contexts remains vital for the peace, security and development nexus concept. This is based on coherent, predictable and lasting support that is based on the different priorities that are defined by national authorities. And it is national authorities' role to engage in dialogue with their partners to ensure that external contributions are able to respond to the needs identified and that they can contribute to strengthening capacities and strengthening national institutions. Enhanced coordination should also enable us to avoid a fragmentation of initiatives. It could also be useful to look at how the different financing mechanisms, in particular the Peacebuilding Fund, the African Union Peace Fund, as well as bilateral partnerships and financial and development institutions, and how they could provide complementary contributions whilst respecting the mandates, eligibility criteria and procedures that are unique to each project. This complementarity should support the African and national priorities while consolidating the predictability and sustainability of financing. Continuity of support also requires particular attention during transitions as well as after peacekeeping operations have withdrawn or been drawn down. Commitment upstream can help to bolster the capacities that are threatened and to provide coverage for financial shortfalls and sustainable peace. The secretariat, with the agreement of the authorities concerned, could facilitate exchanges on a national level and report on the priorities identified, the contributions that should be envisaged and the pending questions. A joint review and regular review at an expert level would then enable us to assess the next steps to take. Morocco remains convinced that better coordinated partnerships that are grounded in national priorities and concrete projects supported with adequate resources, that these can strengthen Africa's actions for lasting peace and inclusive development. Thank you.

Thank you, Morocco, Peace and Security Council, Ambassador Arushi. And then now we move to Somalia, Ambassador Waafa, you have the floor.

Excellencies, co-chairs, excellencies, distinguished members, let me use this opportunity to thank the Commissioner Ban Ki-moon and Special Representative Parfait and other speakers for their informative and insightful presentations. Somalia attaches a great importance to its partnership with the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission. Serving as a new member, we consider this partnership particularly relevant in strengthening efforts to prevent the recurrence of conflict and support countries in the transition from conflict to sustainable peace. In our view, the priority is to ensure that partnership delivers practical results beyond our annual consultations. In this regard, allow me to put forward three recommendations. First, we should establish a more structured mechanism follow up between our annual consultations. I would propose quarterly exchange of written updates between AU Commission PAPs and the PPC secretariat, complemented by virtual coordination meetings. This exchange should focus on developments in agreed priority areas, emerging Peacebuilding needs and opportunities for complementary engagement. To make this arrangement effective, both secretariats should be empowered within their respective mandates to maintain regular contacts, identify implementation gaps, and propose practical initiatives for consideration by the two bodies. This would help ensure that our partnership remains active, responsive, and results-oriented through the year. Second, we should consider joint field missionaries to the selected countries emerging from conflict subject to the consent of the countries concerned and the agreement of the both bodies. Such missionaries could provide an opportunity to assess a national peace-building, priorities, first-hand information, engage with the national authorities and relevant stakeholders and identify areas where AU and UN security support could be better coordinated. Co-chairs, thirdly, we should consult on a pilot joint project, preferably on post-conflict consultation in a situation where to identify needs and harmonize efforts to create synergy on our workloads. Ultimately, our shared objective must be to support African countries in building resilient institutions, addressing the root causes of conflict, and consolidating peace on their own terms. And I thank you for your kind attention to this matter. Thank you.

Thank you, Somalia. excellencies, we still have about 16 speakers to go. So, we should try as much as possible to stick to the time. Um in addition, to what we have on the screen, I'm going to be reminding speakers as we move along. So, we go back to the peace building commission and I now invite the representative of South Africa to make a statement.

Thank you very much, Chairperson. And let me take the opportunity to extend a hearty word of welcome to the dignitaries at the high table and also to our colleagues from Addis. South Africa welcomes the convening of this meeting, which presents an opportunity to further enhance cooperation between the AUPSC and the PBC in peacebuilding in Africa. We wish to underscore the principles of complementarity and subsidiarity between the AUPSC and the PBC, each with their distinct strengths and capabilities. The AU PSC provides essential regional leadership and political legitimacy, while the PBC has convening, advisory, advocacy, and resource mobilization functions and capacities. Cooperation between these two institutions should be strengthened through regular political dialogue, information sharing, joint analysis, and coordinated advocacy in support of African and nationally defined priorities. South Africa believes that sustainable peace begins with national ownership. Therefore, African member states bear the primary responsibility for identifying the drivers of fragility, establishing prevention priorities, and leading inclusive efforts to strengthen institutions, social cohesion, and resilience. The role of regional and international partners is to reinforce these efforts through support that is demand-driven, predictable, and responsive to national circumstances. For their part, regional economic communities and regional mechanisms have an important role to play through their proximity to and representation of member states. They have a better understanding of cross-border dynamics that place them in a strong position to support voluntary national prevention strategies. This can include facilitating peer learning, strengthening early warning and early response capacities, supporting inclusive dialogue and ensuring greater coherence between peacebuilding, development, humanitarian and security efforts. Importantly, such strategies should be inclusive, involving women, young people, persons with disabilities, civil society and local communities. We believe, Chairperson, that it is important that regional approaches should also further ensure that national prevention efforts take account of risks that transcend borders. In this regard, South Africa wishes to underscore the importance of the AU post-conflict reconstruction and development agenda and related regional instruments. These frameworks provide an important basis for translating political commitment into country-led solutions. The drawdown or reconfiguration of peace operations must be carefully planned, nationally owned, and based on realistic assessments of remaining risks and national capacities.

With regards to financing,

we believe that it is important that we increase the mobilization of finances in order to ensure the sustainable implementation of the cooperation between the AU PSC and the PBC. Finally, Chair, let me conclude by underscoring the need for strengthening cooperation between the AU PSC and the PBC by empowering RECs and RMs to support voluntary national prevention strategies. With this, we believe we can strengthen prevention. build resilience and help countries move from fragility towards sustainable peace and development. I thank you.

Okay, I call on India, the representative of India to make their statement.

Thank you. Co-chairs, excellencies, India thanks the chair of the PBC and the chair of the AUPSC for convening this ninth

annual consultative meeting. We recognize its importance in strengthening cooperation, mutual understanding, and African ownership and leadership, as well as to

advance nationally owned peacebuilding efforts.

We recall the twin resolutions of 2025 peacebuilding architecture review called for strengthening the strategic partnership between the PBC

and the

AUPSC, and for creating a mechanism to follow up on recommendations from these annual consultations. We see today's joint communique as a next step in that direction.

We take note of the various practical arrangements proposed to further this cooperation, including possible joint field visits

and cooperation in a country context upon the request and consent of the country concerned.

We would encourage that

these collaborative arrangements remain flexible and respectful of the respective mandates of the two bodies, as well as to fully

align with the priorities of the countries concerned. Co-chairs, excellencies, national ownership must remain the overarching principle in peacebuilding. The primary responsibility for identifying peacebuilding needs and priorities rest with the government concerned. Regional and international support should therefore be demand-driven.

It should be extended at the request and with the consent of the host country, aligned with its priorities

and complementary to, never a substitute for, national efforts.

This applies equally to joint engagements and field visits. On financing, we encourage coherence among the Peacebuilding Fund, the African Development Bank and other partners, while avoiding fragmentation and externally driven approaches. Peace building is sustainable when it is inclusive. We welcome the communique's recognition of the engagement of women and youth in peace building. Today, human-centric digital public infrastructure has potential to transform effectiveness and transparency in public service delivery.

This strengthens public trust and institutional resilience and eventually sustained peace.

In concluding, Co-Chairs, Excellencies, India's approach is guided by our civilizational ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.

The world is one family. We have supported demand-driven partnerships, including capacity building through India UN Development Partnership Fund. We remain committed to our African partners in support of the national peacebuilding priorities.

I thank you.

Thank you, India. And then I think we've come to the end of this BBC segment. We are moving to the AU Peace and Security Council. Here we have just one, and that's Sierra Leone. We invite the representative of Sierra Leone address the council and commission.

Thank you, chair. Co-chair, excellencies, Sierra Leone welcomes this annual consultative meeting and thanks the co-chairs for the clarity on the agenda items presented. The question before us is indeed the right one in our partnership and cooperation, not whether regional and continental support for peacebuilding matters, but how to make it work better, more predictably, and in genuine service of national priorities. Our position on this is grounded in our national experience. We rebuilt from civil conflict, not because regional and international partners acted for us, but because they acted with us and at our request. National ownership is not a principle we invoke rhetorically. It is the condition on which any peacebuilding investment either takes root or is considered wasted effort. Regional support that bypasses national institutions without prior consultation with the concerned government ultimately weakens the very structures it intends to strengthen. Nationally owned peacebuilding also means inclusive peace building. Sierra Leone has consistently maintained that peace processes which exclude women, youth, and marginalized communities from their design and implementation do not hold. The concept note highly identifies inclusion and institutional capacity as conditions for lessons to be adapted elsewhere. Sierra Leone urges that any cooperation framework agreed today build inclusion benchmarks into its design from the outset, not treat them as an afterthought to be added once the main architecture is in place. None of this is possible without predictable and flexible financing. Peacebuilding continues to be chronically underfunded relative to the scale of need. This Peacebuilding Fund remains the most responsive instrument available for early peacebuilding action, but its resources are finite and its application must be strategic. CILM calls on member states and partners to honor their commitments to the fund and to align peacebuilding financing with nationally identified priorities so that resources follow need rather than donor preference. To conclude, we therefore would like to advance three proposals on the way forward. First, the AU, PSC, and the PBC should agree on one concrete cross-border or institution-building priority in West Africa identified by and with the countries concerned for structured cooperation using existing frameworks. Second, peer learning between national practitioners should be convened through the AU, PAPS, and PCRD Center in partnership with the PBC with lessons recorded and made actionable rather than archived. And third, any field-based follow-up must be grounded in prior country consent and genuine mutual agreement not assumed from the regional level downwards. I thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Sierra Leone. Excellencies, at this juncture, I would like to recognize among us the recently appointed United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, and Peace Operations, Mr. Martin Kimani, on behalf of the AU Peace and Security Council, but I am sure the Peace Building Commission as well. I would like to congratulate him on his appointment and invite him to say a few words of reflection based on what as just heard so far. I thank Mr. Kimani. He can now take the floor for his remarks.

Good afternoon. Thank you, Your Excellency, Chair of the PSC, Your Excellency, Chair of the PPC, Excellencies, permanent representatives, delegates, senior UN officials, My remarks are very brief, but it's such a privilege to be here and to say that having been where you're seated, I fully appreciate what you mean by nationally owned and nationally led, which is how we seek to work. Every country that is stable and that enjoys peace and security is a peace-building country. Every country that enjoys those attributes is a country that seeks to prevent conflict, whether through its legal arrangements or its political arrangements or a combination of all those. In my department, DPPA, DPO, the Department of Political Affairs, Political Affairs and Peacebuilding and Peace Operations, I work closely with Elizabeth on making sure that we try and find synergies, the same synergies that a number of you have been discussing. And so our great concern at DPPA/DPO, one, is to respond early to prevent and help countries and regions prevent escalations of conflict that are a threat to regional or international peace and security, and also to think about the aftermath of peace operations in the post-conflict space. Peace building is fundamentally built to be part of that envelope, whether it is prevention, led by countries with their national prevention strategies or their own initiatives that are shaped in some way for prevention, seeking support from the United Nations, or in the post-conflict space. point to two or three particular ideas that I have heard echoed here, especially in the discussions on regional peacebuilding and prevention approaches in West Africa and the Great Lakes region. One, of course, is the cross-border dimension. The goals of Africa are regional, continental integration, and at the end of the day, the borderlands, dividing, the borders dividing the countries, need to be zones of opportunity. And for them to be zones of opportunity, they have to be zones of peace. So cross-border peacebuilding initiatives help anchor peace between communities across the border and help states have more confidence in each other and to also build prosperity, usually in areas where there's a great deal of fragility. There is also really the question of how to ensure that peacebuilding is not only an African affair, but is a global affair. And when I was at the privilege to represent Kenya, I remember us coming to the Peacebuilding Commission and presenting a national peace-building strategy alongside Norway. And the reason for that was to emphasize that all states globally, universally, require the tools of peace-building. And I think these tools give themselves not only to countries that are faced with immediate dangers in Africa, but even countries that are enjoying significant stability today. We can always build peace further. And our offices, whether it's mine or Elizabeth's, are always ready to support you in your journey to peacebuilding and prevention of conflict. I will stop there and thank you very much for the opportunity to speak with you and look forward to meeting with a number of you, especially from Addis at Greentree. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Martin, for your remarks. Excellencies, I now wish to resume our list of speakers. And I just realized that we don't have any speakers again from the Peace and Security Council. So I want to give the floor to members of the building commission. I think there are about 10 of them. We start with Sweden, followed by Japan and Uganda. So I give the floor now to Sweden.

Thank you, Chair. Excellencies and esteemed colleagues, peace building impact is ultimately measured by how people feel. whether we feel safer in our communities, how confident we feel to trust our neighbors, and how empowered we feel to shape our future. Our impact here in New York is also measured by our ability to support nationally led efforts that prevent conflict and build institutions that people trust and rely on. Effective international support starts with a clear understanding of local realities. Through its engagement in the Liberia configuration, Sweden has the partnership with a wide range of actors in the spirit of inclusive national ownership. In Liberia and everywhere else, peace is built through the everyday leadership of men and women, young people, civil society, community leaders, public servants, and many others. Regional organizations and mechanisms have an important role to play. They are often uniquely placed to identify emerging risks, facilitate dialogue, and support member states in developing prevention approaches that actually reflect national circumstances, while also addressing shared regional challenges. Sweden strongly supports African leadership in peacebuilding, prevention, and post-conflict recovery. And we welcome the African Union's continued efforts to strengthen its peacebuilding architecture. The partnership between the African Union and the United Nations is also critical, as today's challenges increasingly transcend national borders as well. Closer cooperation among national, regional, continental and international actors becomes even more important. Looking ahead, the priority should be implementation. The challenge is increasingly not the absence of frameworks or commitments, but ensuring that agreed priorities are translated into concrete support on the ground. Stronger information sharing, regular engagement and practical cooperation can help us bridge this gap. The Peacebuilding Commission has an important role to play in this regard through its convening power, its ability to sustain political attention and also mobilize support for nationally owned peacebuilding priorities. By working together, the AU Peace and Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission, we can help strengthen African-led, nationally owned and inclusive approaches to sustaining peace. I thank you.

We now call on the representative of Japan to make a statement. All right. Now we have Uganda, PBC. Uganda, PBC, you have the floor.

Co-chairs, Uganda attaches, Uganda views today's dialogue as a critical milestone for bridging regional frameworks and multilateral mechanisms to achieve sustainable peace across Africa to meet the ambitious AU goal of silencing the guns by 2030, which is now clearly a moving target. Uganda firmly believes in nationally owned and politically led peacebuilding processes. Peace cannot be imported. or imposed from without. It must be cultivated from within, supported by predictable and dependable international partnerships that respect national sovereignty and leadership. Uganda plays an active role in peace and stability in the Great Lakes region and East Africa, and underscores the importance of regional economic communities and regional mechanisms as indispensable first responders to peace and security challenges. Strengthening institutional linkages between UN peacekeeping and peace support office, the AU Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, and the AU Center for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development is essential to eliminate duplication and maximize the resource efficiency on the ground. In this respect, you get to highlight the following key priorities for our constructive cooperation. Operationalization of practical field collaboration. Uganda urges both AU PSC and PBC to move beyond periodic consultations and focus on the coordinated context-specific engagement that directly address the root causes of conflicts and the needs of countries transitioning from conflict. Strengthening PC, RRD and PBP SO linkages, the AU Centre for PCRRD must be fully powered and resourced as a continental anchor for post-conflict recovery. Enhanced collaboration between PCRRD Centre and PBTSO will ensure that lessons learned, institutional memory, and best practice are systematically shared across regions, bridging the peace, development, humanitarian nexus Supporting requires robust socioeconomic foundations. In conclusion, Uganda reiterates its unwavering commitment to active, constructive engagement within both the AU, PSC, and the PBC. By reinforcing our institutional synergies, fostering mutual trust, and anchoring our efforts in the leadership of the African Member States, we can build resilient societies and secure lasting peace across our continent. I thank you.

Thank you, Uganda. We now invite Rwanda to make a statement, followed by Norway and Australia.

Thank you very much, co-chairs, for giving Rwanda the floor. First of all, Rwanda welcomes this year's annual consultations, which have built a very good bond between the two bodies. Co-chairs, over the years, these consultations have helped strengthen cooperation that we need to build on. We now need to build on that progress and consider how this partnership can better support countries in preventing conflicts and sustaining peace. And with that, we want to offer three observations. First, on national ownership and conflict prevention. There is a broad agreement that national ownership is important to sustaining peace. What deserves great attention is now how we can support countries in putting this principle into practice. We believe that the PBC and the Peace and Security Council of Africa could do more to bring these capacities together, particularly in supporting member states that wish to develop voluntary national prevention strategies. This could include facilitating exchange between countries facing similar challenges, strengthening national capacities for early warning and response, and ensuring that the regional prevention efforts informed and by national priorities. The intention should not be to introduce additional processes, but to make existing mechanisms more responsive to the needs of member states. Second, on post-conflict reconstruction and sustaining peace. The AU policy on post-conflict reconstruction and development provides a useful framework for all of us. The challenge, however, remains its implementation. In countries emerging from conflict, the transition from immediate security responses to longer-term recovery is often difficult. Attention should therefore focus on resources that are needed to, that are usually diminished precisely when national institutions need to sustain that support. This is an area where closer cooperation between Peace and Security Council and PBC could make a difference. For example, the two bodies could identify together with the countries concerned specific areas where their respective mandates can complement each other, particularly in institutions of peace building and reconciliation and recovery. The PBC itself can play a very great role in keeping the needs of the countries in transition on the international agenda. And third, on financing and follow-up gaps. We have discussed the financing challenges facing peacebuilding efforts for many occasions. These challenges remain, particularly for countries undergoing fragile transitions. But Rwanda sees melt in closer engagement between the AU Peace and Security Fund and the UN Peace Building Fund and other partners that have already spoken and took the floor today. But financing alone will not resolve the challenges. We will also need to make better use of the cooperation mechanisms that already exist. Finally, As we consider the way forward, Rwanda could welcome a more focused approach to our joint work. As we said, a joint visit where appropriate and with the agreement of the countries concerned could also help both bodies develop a common understanding of the challenges on the ground and identify where their support and capabilities can be focused on. Ultimately, what matters is whether the countries seeking our support... Thank you, Mr. Chair. What matters ultimately is whether the countries that are seeking our support see a difference in our work as we work together going forward from this meeting. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Rwanda. We now call on Norway, followed by Australia.

Thank you, co-chairs, and congratulations, ASG Martin Kimani, on your appointment. Norway welcomes the opportunity to advance the AU Peace and Security Council and Peacebuilding Commission partnership. Allow me to focus on three areas. First, more regular cooperation between PSC and PBC. The two bodies have complementary strengths. The AU PSC offers regional expertise and political engagement, while the PBC provides a platform for mobilizing international attention and partnerships. Therefore, Norway recommends to consider carrying out joint visits to relevant country situations, exchange forward-looking annual programs of work to identify overlaps early, and invite AU representatives to provide more frequent PBC briefings. We also welcome the proposal for further cooperation through focused country or regional engagement. Second, leverage the PBC's convening role to promote more coherent support for and political attention to national priorities. Through targeted exchanges, the Commission can complement existing national and regional efforts by connecting identified priorities with the political, technical, and financial support available across the international system. Nationally led prevention efforts and mission transitions are two areas where closer partnership could add value. Women, peace and security should remain at the center of these efforts. Peace will not be achieved without women's full, equal and meaningful participation and leadership. We welcome the strong support to WPS from many AU member states and note the AU's work strategic plan as an important milestone. Third, strengthening coherence on the ground. Effective and well-coordinated African institutions are essential in ensuring peace, security, and development on the African continent. The affected countries must be in front seat, supported by regions, organizations, and partners. The UN Office to the African Union is a key mechanism in facilitating the cooperation between the UN and the continent. Implementing UN80 reforms at country level is also critical to foster greater coherence among different actors and across pillars. Colleagues, African leadership and ownership in prevention and peacebuilding are essential, as are partnerships. The value of our cooperation will ultimately be measured by the impact we achieve on the ground. Norway is and will remain a consistent partner in these efforts. I thank you.

Now we have Australia, followed by the EU, European Union.

Co-chairs, members of the AU PSC, colleagues, Australia welcomes this annual dialogue on advancing African-led peacebuilding and nationally owned prevention. I'll make three points. First, Australia firmly believes conflict prevention must be nationally owned and regionally supported. Voluntary national prevention strategies can help countries identify emerging risks, address the drivers of conflict, and build resilience before violence

escalates.

Their success requires political commitment, whole society engagement, and alignment with regional prevention frameworks. Australia was proud to recently launch new policy guidance providing member states with a practical, voluntary resource to develop effective national prevention strategies. Africa's regional economic communities and regional mechanisms are often well placed to support national prevention strategy development and implementation. And if elected to the UN Security Council for 29/30, preventing conflict, including by better working with regional institutions, will be a priority for Australia's term. Second, the AU Peace and Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission should turn shared priorities into practical cooperation. Regular information sharing, joint analysis, and structured follow-up can strengthen early warning and response, support political and security transitions, and help prevent relapse into conflict. Lessons from AU, PSC, PBC engagement should be shared with other regional organizations seeking to work with the PBC. Third, peacebuilding needs predictable and sustainable financing underpinned by transparency, accountability, and investment that reaches local actors. Multilateral development banks have an important role in this. That's why Australia announced at High-Level Week a $5 million contribution to the UN-IFI Partnership Facility to strengthen partnerships between multilateral development banks and fragile and conflict-affected countries. Having extended our PBC membership until 2027, Australia stands ready to support practical, nationally owned and African led cooperation that strengthens prevention, advances sustainable peace and delivers for communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Australia. We now call on the European Union, followed by France and El Salvador.

Chair, Dear colleagues, particular welcome to our dear colleagues from the African Union Peace and Security Council. I'm honored to address this joint meeting on behalf of the European Union. My intervention will focus on a few key points from the EU's perspective. First, inclusive national ownership is a cornerstone of effective peacebuilding and sustainable peace. We support stronger capacities for prevention, including the development of national prevention strategies supported by early warning and early action. Systematically integrating the women, peace and security and youth, peace and security agendas into our strategies is key for success. Indeed, national leadership goes hand in hand with meaningful participation of citizens, civil society and local communities. This is the way to make peace building sustainable. Second, we strongly support African led peace efforts. The African Union and its Peace and Security Council are a key partner for the European Union in this endeavor. This was notably affirmed in the EU-AU Summit in Luanda in 2025, where we reiterated a shared commitment to a stronger partnership between the EU and the AU on peace and security. In that context, we look forward to the next annual consultations in early November. Third. Africa is also an important center of gravity for the EU Peace Facility. We have concretely supported and will continue to support African peace and security, complementing our engagement on prevention and peacebuilding. At the request of our African partners, the EU also currently deploys 11 civilian and military missions and operations in Africa. With these missions, 2,000 European military personnel, police officers and civil servants work with their African counterparts hand in hand in support of nationally owned peacebuilding priorities. In that regard, we reiterate a joint call from the AU-EU-UN trilateral meeting in September for continued emphasis in advancing the operationalization and utilization of Security Council Resolution 2719 on predictable financing. and, of course, for strengthening regional ownership. Colleagues, Africa is a direct neighbor and partner, and our security and prosperity are closely interconnected. The EU will remain closely engaged in mediation, prevention, and peacebuilding in support of African-led efforts and priorities, including early warning and prevention mechanisms. Ultimately, and finally, sustainable peace cannot be imposed from the outside. It must be nationally owned. We all know this. regionally supported, and backed by coherent international partnerships. The EU stands ready to play its part and is honored to be able to work with the African Union on this front. Thank you.

Now, France and then El Salvador. Excellencies, I just want to remind you that by 5:00, we will not have translation services again, so we should be as brief as possible. interpretation services.

Mr. Co-Chair, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I will be brief. I wish to, of course, thank the Moroccan chairmanship of the PBC, as well as the Cameroonian chairmanship of the PSC, and I wish to welcome other colleagues. I have three messages. First, we welcome the ongoing nature of partnership between the two bodies. There is an important need to attribute particular importance to the priorities that we ourselves set together, and these priorities include women's and young people's participation in peace efforts, as well as taking into account risks related to climate change and environmental issues. So there's a need to ensure due follow-up to the fruitful cooperation that we have between the two bodies. And this cooperation is driven by the aim of shared results. My second message is that West Africa and the Great Lakes in particular are prioritizing partnership rooted in the principles of national ownership. And we have seen this with the PBC, with the example of Mauritania, which presented last January before the Commission their national peacebuilding and social cohesion strategy, which highlighted, inter alia, climate risks as well as inclusive governance. In the Great Lakes, there's a need to implement Security Council resolutions, specifically 2773. We welcome any support that the Commission or the PBC can provide for peace efforts there. And third measure, a message has to do with PBF, which has a key role to play, specifically in the transition of peacekeeping operations phase. As we have heard in the CAR, MINUSCA is entering an important phase, setting the stage for a successful transition. We need to support the work that is currently being done by the CER to build its institutional security capabilities and to help it to shoulder its full responsibilities when the time is ripe. To conclude, the exchange of views between the Commission and the PBC are, of course, valuable to make headway together tangibly on conflict prevention and peacebuilding for all of our states. We welcome the opportunity to participate. We also welcome the forthcoming adoption of the communique for the two bodies. Thank you.

Thank you, France. Now, call on El Salvador, followed by Russia.

Thank you very much, sir. First of all, El Salvador wishes to thank you for convening this ninth annual consultative meeting and welcome the representatives of the AU Peace and Security Council. And we really appreciate the space for dialogue, which is an opportunity to continue to strengthen our cooperation and make progress in our joint responses to the challenges in peacebuilding. My delegation wishes to underscore three aspects. First of all, the importance of national ownership and regional leadership in efforts to prevent and build peace. As a country that overcame an armed conflict through dialogue and negotiation and that has faced significant challenges in security and development, El Salvador recognizes that the sustainability of peace depends essentially on national leadership and strengthening institutional capacities. In this regard, we welcome the efforts of the African Union to strengthen their peacebuilding framework, particularly by revising their post-conflict reconstruction and development policy and developing regional prevention instruments. We believe that it's fundamental for these efforts to continue to respond to the priorities defined by states themselves, with support from regional and sub-regional organizations, promoting the meaningful participation of women and youth. Secondly. the need to strengthen the cooperation and exchange of experiences between our different regions. El Salvador recognizes the valuable leadership of African countries in the development of solutions that are adapted to their realities, and we believe that their experience offers important lessons for the international community. From our own national experience, we reiterate our availability to promote South-South and triangular cooperation, in particular in areas such as institution building, rebuilding the social fabric, and community resilience. In this regard, we urge cooperation between the AU Peace and Security Council and the PBC We urge it to go beyond the annual consultations through periodic exchanges, joint visits and concrete follow-up mechanisms. Thirdly, we wish to reiterate how important it is to ensure adequate and sustainable financing for peacebuilding. Political commitments must be coupled with sufficient, predictable and lasting resources. This is particularly important to support national priorities in the areas of prevention, strengthening institutions and preserving progress made during transition processes. In line with the results of the Peacebuilding Architecture Review in 2025, we reiterate the need to strengthen mechanisms. Thank you very much.

Thank you, El Salvador. We now pass on to Russia, followed by China.

Co-Chairs, we wish to thank you for convening today's event. In recent years, African states have undertaken have been working assiduously to craft collective approaches to peacebuilding in 2006 African Union officially launched in Cairo 2026 in Cairo a post-conflict. Rebuilding and Development Center, we believe that the results achieved at the regional level for peacebuilding should be taken into account when crafting universal approaches in this area. And we believe that a sustainable peace in the continent which endured the horrors of colonialism can be achieved only through nationally led political processes. In accordance with the African solutions to African problems principle, we object to any attempts at external intervention in African any international assistance needs to be delivered exclusively upon the request of the host state on a voluntary basis as is enshrined in the peacebuilding architecture review. Now I turn to the matter of the sustainable financing for peacebuilding. We stress the need for full compliance with the General Assembly resolutions. We note in particular the provisions pertaining to greater transparency, accountability, and oversight over the operations of the Peacebuilding Fund, whose main objective is to deliver support to post-conflict states in accordance with their national priorities. To conclude, Russia has been and remains a reliable partner for African states, including in post-conflict rebuilding and development. Russia's willingness to engage in this work was cemented back in 2019 with the declaration of the first Russia-African Summit. and we would mention the center, specifically with Russian-African cooperation through the implementation of capacity-building programs and infrastructure projects. On the 28th to the 29th of October, Moscow will host the third Russia-Africa Summit, as well as other initiatives, including Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum. The main theme is "Together Developing Mutually Beneficial Cooperation and the Potential for African States." We look forward to broad participation of African representatives there in the summit and economic and humanitarian forum, which will help to cement the Russian-African dialogue and which will dovetail with the peace-building objectives. Thank you.

Thank you, Russia. We now move to China, the UK, Kenya, and Egypt.

Co-chairs, I welcome members of the AU PSC led by Chairperson Ambassador Monono to this meeting with the PBC. The African Union is the banner of strength and unity for Africa and an important platform for international cooperation. It plays a vital role in promoting peace and stability in Africa and advancing post-conflict reconstruction and development. It is an important partner for the UN in peacebuilding endeavors. The new circumstances and challenges we are facing make it imperative to seize the opportunity of implementing the outcomes of the Peacebuilding Architecture Review to forge greater consensus, improve the mechanisms, and enhance efficiency so as to better support peacebuilding in Africa. I would like to make three points first. African ownership and leadership. The real masters of Africa are none other than the people of Africa. No one knows the realities and challenges facing African countries better than the countries themselves. The international community should therefore show full respect for African countries' sovereignty, ownership, and leadership, and support them in identifying their peace-building priorities based on their respective realities and exploring development paths suited to their national context so that they can truly take their destiny into their own hands. Second, the imperative of development for peace, the international community should look beyond the immediate ramp-up support for these countries so you can run development and focus efforts with precision on more robust infrastructure, poverty eradication, universal education, better livelihood and well-being for the public. This will foster in post-conflict countries greater growth momentum from within as well as development resilience. My third point is synergies. BBC is an intergovernmental advisory body and as such should function more effectively as a bridge and convener. to help create synergies among, inter alia, the UN, regional organizations, international financial institutions, and bilateral partners to provide more consistent, effective international support in order for African countries to consolidate their peace gains and achieve sustainable development. PDC and AUPSC should continue to engage, communicate, coordinate, and share experience with each other and, by leveraging their respective advantages, work together to support the peacebuilding priorities of these countries. China was, is, and will always be a staunch supporter and dependable partner for Africa's peace and development endeavors remains committed to working with the EU, the UN, and the international community at large through bilateral and multilateral assistance and peacebuilding to support African countries in rebuilding peace and contribute positively to the lasting peace, stability, and prosperity on the continent. I thank you, Co-Chairs.

Thank you, China. The UK, you have the floor, followed by Kenya and Egypt. Now, Kenya, you have the floor, followed by Egypt.

Thank you, co-chairs. Kenya welcomes the convening of this meeting that takes place at a time when prevention, peacebuilding, and recovery faces growing demands and constrained resources. It is therefore important that our partnership delivers practical results. Sustainable peace cannot be built through isolated interventions. It requires strong national ownership, effective regional cooperation, and international support that is coherent, predictable, and responsive to national priorities. The support should be provided at the request of the country concerned and shaped by these priorities, institutions, and communities. this approach does not diminish regional or international responsibility. It makes that support more relevant and sustainable. Kenya's own experience offers useful lessons and is a reminder that peace requires continuous investment in inclusive institutions, devolution, social cohesion, and the peaceful management of political and community tensions. The National Steering Committee on peacebuilding and conflict management brings together national government institutions and partners to coordinate conflict prevention and management. The Uwezo platform connects public reporting and incident information with the peacebuilding response. These mechanisms demonstrate the value of linking institutional coordination with local knowledge. Kenya, therefore, offers three practical steps: first, connect Early warning to early action through regular information sharing and the coordinated engagement among the AU, the RECs, member states, and the United Nations. National prevention strategies must remain voluntary, nationally owned, and developed at the request of the country concerned. Second, we should align peacebuilding finance around the nationally identified priorities. Three, we should make this partnership work between annual consultations. We propose regular information sharing between the two secretariats, designated focal points, periodic written updates, and a small number of agreed country or thematic priorities. We also support consideration of a joint field visit, where it is useful, mutually agreed, and undertaken with the consent of the country concerned. Co-chairs, the value of this partnership lies in translating that spirit into clear responsibilities, sustainable engagement, and the results that people can feel in their daily lives. Kenya stands ready to support a practical outcome from this meeting. Let this meeting agree not only on what we value, but also on what we will do next. I thank you.

Thank you, Kenya. And now we give the floor to Egypt.

Thank you, Chair. I thought I should take the floor once again for one minute towards the end in order to thank our guests, sisters and brothers from the AUPSC, for coming up with concrete proposals. I think I wouldn't want us to miss some of those concrete proposals. The distinguished representative, Ambassador of Somalia, has put three very specific proposals to take forward. And I fully subscribe to them, same with the representative of Sierra Leone. The question here, co-chair, is that we need to agree, not necessarily today, but as a result of this meeting, on maybe one or two, either country cases or regional, sub-regional cases where we test our partnership between the PBC and the AUPSC going forward. And we apply around it much of the values and the principles that we have agreed today. The question of cross-border, for example, the Lake Chad Basin offers a lot that we can learn from. I am aware of a lot of significant efforts between the countries of the Lake Chad Basin, which the two bodies can address, mobilize support around, and also usher into mobilizing further financial and political support through their respective roles. That's the cross-border, because it has a cross-border connotation there. So the Lake Chad Basin And we have a Lake Chad Basin Commission where we can consult in addition to the countries of the Lake Chad Basin. The distinguished ambassador of DRC mentioned a very specific proposal on national DDR entities in the Great Lakes region. It has a subregional dimension, but it has also a very specific national dimension. We have, we co-chair with Cote d'Ivoire, the group of friends on DDR, we would like to work with you and then bring the outcome of that and bring it here to the PBC and have that as a very concrete outcome. These are only two, I heard a lot about the MINUSCA and Central African Republic and the, the, the, the, the duty of the Central African Republic, first of all, is of course that our chair of the PBC is the chair of the configuration, but also because it has a peacekeeping operation that eventually will transit. And from now until then, the two organizations need to work together with the UN system and with the government of the Central African Republic to figure out how the transition will be orderly and will be meaningful and will lead into sustainable peace. This is only one of the examples, but also other peacekeeping operations. that are about to transit will represent a very valuable areas for collaboration between the two bodies. Thank you, Mr. Co-Chair.

Yeah, thank you, Egypt. And thank you, esteemed colleagues, for your valuable insights and inputs. I will now hand over the moderation of the next segment to our host, the PBC Chair, His Excellency Mr. Omar Elaleh, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco. You have the floor.

Thank you very much, Mr. Co-Chair, and dear brother, Chairperson. We move now to item 5, which is the consideration of the Darfur Joint Communique. Allow me to thank you all for your constructive engagement and support to the joint communique that both co-chairs have presented. My sincere gratitude goes to each and every one of you and to all our experts who have hardly worked to achieve consensus. Following the consensus that emerged, I declare the joint communique adopted. And now, it's my pleasure to give the floor to Mrs. Elizabeth Speer, Assistant Secretary General for Peacebuilding and Peace Support. Madam, you have the floor.

Thank you so much. Dear co-chairs, excellencies, colleagues, it is late in the day and a lot has been said. let me just perhaps put on the table a few takeaways from our perspective with respect to the way forward after this very rich and constructive discussion. Just three or so points. First of all, I think all of you have mentioned in one way or another the importance of this AUPSC-PBC partnership as the foundation of a possible better coordinated framework for our support to prevention and peacebuilding actions on the African continent. And now what I've heard all of you express is that the time is clearly with us to take these annual sessions and to take us to action. So both through the joint communique, which I commend you for having just adopted, and through your many very good ideas expressed here, I think we can really help to shape that reality. So I wanted, as the secretariat of the Peacebuilding Commission, to pledge our support together with AU PAPS, who are supporting the AU PSC and the African Union Commission. to work very closely under your guidance, the guidance of the member states, to take the ideas that have been expressed here, the ideas as they've been expressed in the joint communique, and take them to concrete action. There was a call for prioritization as well. This will be in the hands of member states, but please count on us to help you take this to the next stage. Secondly, we heard the call from all of you for greater coordination and synergies between the EU Commission, including the PCRD, and the UN system in terms of our support to prevention and peacebuilding on the continent. On that, I pledge to work even more closely with our counterparts, with Commissioner Banguelet and his office, with PCRD and others, and of course with our partners across the UN system. to make sure that we are really collaborating in a way that would be more effective, that will avoid duplication, and will follow, again, the priorities of the countries themselves, including in areas such as support to national prevention and peacebuilding strategies at the request of a member state, as well as on institutional strengthening. And there, we heard multiple times the interest in SSR, DDR, justice and corrections. This is part of our new Peacebuilding and Peace Support Office, and we would be very pleased to look further at alignment with the continental and regional capacities in that respect. Thirdly, you have all agreed that sustainable peacebuilding will require stronger financing partnerships. we do pledge to follow on what Commissioner Bangole suggested, and that is to deepen the dialogue and the coordination between the Peacebuilding Fund and Africa Peace Fund. We have already had multiple conversations with our counterparts in the AUC, and we will take that further. I think there's also a lot of scope to align more closely between ourselves in terms of innovative financing, so our approach to the international financial institutions, the letter of intent recently signed between the African Development Bank and the UN system with between our DSG and the senior vice president of the bank is a is a great step forward. So we look forward to working together with the AU on that basis, as well as the work with the private sector. And then finally, I would just say that. It was clear to me through the conversation of today, through the different interventions, that we do align between the AUPSC, the PBC, and the secretariats on the need to support prevention and peacebuilding efforts in Africa that are nationally owned, locally led, inclusive, and regionally and internationally supported. So we look forward to working in that respect together with you. Thank you.

I would like to thank Madame Elizabeth Spear for her remarks, and I would like to seize this opportunity to really praise her efforts and also her leadership. It was not very easy to preserve the mandates, the staff, and the budget of the PBC, but thanks to her wisdom and her spirit of responsibility, and especially the conscious about the duty, especially towards African continent, she managed to preserve most of that, not all, but at least we are very satisfied that we limit the damage of all these reforms and cutting budget and the stuff. Before concluding, I would like to give the floor back to my co-chair, his Excellency, Chair, Iwombu Monono, Permanent Representative of Cameroon and Chairperson of the EU you, PSC, for October 2026. Please.

Thank you, Co-Chair. By way of remarks and takeaways, first, I wish to express my appreciation to all the AU Peace and Security Council and the PBC members for their very rich statements and continued commitment to this idea of peacebuilding. From the floor, we realized that there were 19 interventions from the PBC and seven from the AU Peace and Security Council. I want to, the second is to reiterate the idea of a compendium of best practices and peer learning that came from the PSC members. The third is the issue of innovative financing, and I want to reiterate our appreciation for the letter of intent from the African Development Bank with the UN system. Then the fourth is the issue of the follow-up mechanism and implementation matrix. Lastly, is to thank the Committee of Experts and the two secretariats for their technical support. Thank you.

Thank you very much, dear Co-Chair. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, as we bring our work to a close, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to my co-chair for the excellent spirit of our collaboration. I extend my deep gratitude to the distinguished briefers we had the pleasure of welcoming today, as well to the members of the Peace and Security Council of African Union and of the PBC. Their commitments and insightful contributions have given this ninth meeting its full significance. The richness of our exchanges reflects a shared conviction. The dialogue between our two bodies has reached a degree of maturity that now allows to an effort on a more continued basis. From our discussions, five main elements appear to me to emerge. First, the value of more fluid sharing of analysis and information on situation of common interests so that our two bodies may act on a better informed basis. Two, mutual learning in specific national context where the countries concerned so wish to the benefits in particular of the advisory board of the PBC. Three, deeper cooperation between African Union Center for Peace, Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development and the Peace Building and Peace Support Office through the exchange of expertise, lessons learned, and learning tools. For the possibility of joint field visit, should it be deemed timely and command the agreement of all, in order to take stock of the situation alongside national actors and to generate complementarity support. Five, marking our partnership with the right and progress updates prepared by our secretariat within existing resources in the lead up to our 10th consultations. In closing, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, what we draw up today is not merely a review. But, of course, we chart together. May the trust that binds our two bodies continue to light this path in the service of an Africa that is fully the architect of its own peace. The 9th Annual Consultative Meeting between the Peace and Security Council of the African Union and the PBC is hereby closed. Thank you very much. Merci beaucoup