The peace and security bodies of the United Nations and the African Union have agreed to find new ways to finance peacekeeping missions.
At their just-concluded 17th annual meeting in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, members of the UN and AU Security councils noted that peacekeeping operations on the continent have been facing persistent financial challenges.
A joint communique of the Security Councils of the United Nations and the African Union has underscored the importance of more predictable, sustainable, and flexible financing for AU-led peace support operations.
Negotiations between the two organizations on a draft resolution that would see this happen have been ongoing since 2018, but have been delayed because of disagreements within the African Union.
In 2002, the African Union created the African Peace and Security Architecture responsible for conflict prevention, management, and peacebuilding on the continent.
The 55-member bloc has since struggled to fund peace operations, relying on partners such as the European Union.
According to the United Nations, there are currently 12 peacekeeping missions across the world, with more than half of them in Africa.
Last year, the continent needed about two-thirds of the global peacekeeping budget of 6.3 billion dollars.
The United Nations believes funding AU-led peace and security operations will be key in strengthening the capacity of both organisations to tackle threats to peace and security on the African continent.
