The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Mr António Guterres, has identified peace as a key ingredient in strengthening Africa’s voice and influence as well as unlocking its future in the world order.
Guterres said this on Thursday in New York at the opening of a debate on its critical role in addressing global security and development challenges.
The debate was convened by Mozambique, the Council president of the Security Council for May, on the maintenance of international peace and security of African States.
“Now is the time to unleash Africa’s peace power,” he said.
He called Africa “an important voice for the global good,” citing examples of how the continent has shown “unity and solidarity in a fractured world”.
This, according to him, includes focusing on ending poverty and hunger, supporting refugees, achieving sustainable development goals, and pushing for reform in the decades-old global financial system.
Guterres said although efforts like those required a peaceful atmosphere, “too many Africans are caught up in the hell of conflicts or living with the relentless danger of terrorism and violent extremism in their communities.”
Speaking on the war and “deepening humanitarian nightmare” in Sudan, he warned that increased hostilities in El Fasher were “opening an alarming new chapter” in the conflict, now in its second year.
“We need a concerted global push for a ceasefire, followed by a comprehensive peace process to end the bloodshed,” he said.
Guterres outlined three steps to strengthen Africa’s peace leadership, both in the continent and at the global stage.
“First, we need peace in Africa itself,” he said, highlighting the UN’s partnership with the African Union (AU) and support for its ‘Silencing the Guns’ initiative.
He also commended the Security Council’s adoption of resolution 2719 in 2023 which allows AU-led peace support operations that receive their mandates from the council to access UN-assessed contributions.
The two organisations “will continue to work together to defuse conflicts before they escalate, manage them effectively when they occur, and build sustainable peace when they are resolved,” he said.
Secondly, he added, African participation and leadership must be embedded across “the global peace and security architecture”.
He stressed the need for reform in the UN Security Council and other global institutions established in the wake of the Second World War, because, as he said, they had become outdated.
According to him, structural inequalities have resulted in African states suffering disproportionately from the effects of conflicts, an unjust global financial system, and the climate crisis.
He added that in spite of the effects of the conflicts, the African states are stepping up and contributing to global peace efforts.
He praised Kenya for spearheading the upcoming Multilateral Security Support Mission that will be deployed to Haiti to bolster national efforts to quell the rampant gang violence prevalent in the South American country.
He also lauded other African countries that have offered to send troops as their contribution to the mission.
Guterres insisted that Africa deserves a voice in the global peace and security architecture.
“But strengthening Africa’s voice can only happen if African countries can participate in global governance structures as equals.
“This must include correcting the lack of permanent African representation at this council,” he said.
The secretary-general pointed to the Summit of the Future holding at the UN Headquarters in September as a forum that will provide the opportunity to push forward this and other issues, such as reform of the global financial system.