Secretary-General’s Press Conference with Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson, African Union Commission

Secretary-General: I would like, first of all, to express my deep gratitude to my dear friend, Moussa Faki Mahamat, for the excellent meeting that we have just finished. 

The partnership between the African Union and the United Nations is an essential partnership for the United Nations. It is our most important strategic partnership, as Africa remains one of the key priorities for the UN. That priority is based on the clear perception that we must work with the African Union, based on the principle of African-led solutions for African problems in all dimensions - peace and security, development, climate - and I am also extremely happy with the fact that we have completed our frameworks of cooperation today, with our Framework in relation to Human Rights. 

Now, Africa has been the double victim of injustice. First of all, historic injustice linked to colonialism and to slavery; and second, the present injustice in relation to the way power relations are established in the world, and namely in relation to financial and economic power. 

Before COVID, the African continent was catching up. The African continent had the highest rates of growth in the world. But with COVID, we have witnessed how unjust was the distribution of vaccines, and then we have seen that the developed countries had the chance to print money to support their economies and their populations in the recovery, and African countries had to increase their indebtedness to do exactly the same thing. 

On top of that, the consequences of the war in Ukraine have been an increase in prices of foodstuffs – Africa is a large importer of foodstuffs, of energy - and now with global inflation and increasing interest rates, countries that have a large debt see themselves completely trapped by that - trapped in the sense that they are not in a position to fully respond to the needs to finance that debt. And we have seen today the extremely bad news that happened in relation to Zambia, that demonstrates once again how inadequate is the framework that was established by the G20 for debt relief in the world. 

But, on top of that, countries have no fiscal space to respond to the basic needs of their population, and especially to their young population, as in Africa, the youth represents the majority of the population. And that brings with it, inevitably, an enormous frustration, and this kind of frustration is the seed for instability, is the seed for conflict, is the seed for coups d’etat and for a number of other recent developments that have undermined the peace and security in the African continent. 

It is very important to give a double response to those problems of peace and security. 

First of all, to recognize that peacekeeping missions do not make sense where there is no peace to keep, and that we need peace enforcing and counterterrorism operations in Africa, led by the African Union and with the full mandate of the Security Council under Chapter VII and assessed contributions to finance those missions. They are the only way to be effective in fighting the kind of violence and terrorism that is now proliferating in many African countries. 

And second, we need to mobilize the international community to address the economic and social root causes of conflict. 

And that is why we are so keen on the need for reforming international financial institutions, in order to make sure that they correspond to today’s economy and not to the economy after the Second World War, and that developing countries have an increased role in the power system related to the decisions taken in relation to economy and finance. 

That is why we have been insisting on the need to change the business model of multilateral development banks, on effective debt relief, on the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) stimulus as a key instrument to allow African countries to be able to find the fiscal space necessary to address the basic needs of their population, which of course will also have as a consequence to improve their capacity to guarantee stability, to guarantee democracy and to guarantee peace. 

The African Union can count on the very strong commitment of the United Nations, fighting for the reforms that are absolutely necessary - not for the expression of simple solidarity but for the expression of justice. What Africa needs above all is justice in international relations, because Africa has been the victim of the structural injustices of our international relations. 

At the same time, I would like to say that we are totally committed to work with the African Union in all areas of our common activity, and we intend to do everything in order to guarantee that in the field, at country level, our agents will work very closely with the African Union agents to make sure that the perfect common understanding we have about African and global problems will translate into also an effective cooperation at country and sub-regional level in the continent. 

I believe this meeting has shown that we have a total identity of points of view and this meeting will bolster our cooperation and will make it even more effective with a very strong mutual commitment to the people of the African continent. 

****

QUESTION AND ANSWERS: 

Question: Thank you so much, Mister Chairperson and Mr. Secretary-General, on behalf of UNCA for this press conference. To you, Chairperson, on climate: So do you really expect a concrete turning point in commitments regarding African countries during COP28? 

And if I may, to the Secretary-General, sorry, on Middle East. These few days of pauses gives all sides some breathing space. But the critical question now is, what happens whenever the negotiated truce will expire? 

Chairperson:  The COP is an important meeting. We'll be at the 28th COP. But each COP shouldn’t look alike. I think that climate change and the consequences thereof are a reality today, even for the most sceptical. In September, the African continent held summit in Nairobi and where the African Union coordinated its position. And I hope that COP28 will see decisions being taken and particularly the implementation of these decisions. Quite a lot of promises have been made since the Paris agreement in 2015. But to date, we haven't seen follow-up given to those decisions. 

Obviously, as I said, the situation of the African continent needs to be looked at very closely. We need to look at the specific nature of that situation. Africa is home to 1.4 billion inhabitants and 30 million square kilometres between 60% and 65% non-cultivated arable land on the basis of current data. So, a large part, or almost all of the territory receives sunshine every day. There are rivers, other waterways. There are possibilities for clean, renewable, and green forms of energy. But we insist that we need to have considerable investment and necessary technology to be made available so that, once and for all, I hope that this investment is profitable and will allow us to produce this energy to enable the African continent to have the necessary energy for its development, for its industrialization. When I said that almost half of the population doesn't even have electricity, doesn't even have electric lighting, so there is quite a specific situation on the African continent. I know that in Glasgow, decisions were made to not fund fossil fuel energies. We're all in favour of clean energy. But this has to be done gradually and depending on the needs of countries. 

The green climate fund has announced around $100 billion per year, but we haven't yet seen that goal being reached. And we have 10 times higher needs according to specific estimates that have been drawn up. So we are hoping that specific measures will be taken at this COP28. 

Secretary-General: First of all, I'd like to say that the truce was a step in the right direction, was a symbol of hope. But it doesn't solve the key problems we face. That is why we have been insisting on the need for a humanitarian ceasefire, leading to the unconditional and the immediate release of all hostages and to the possibility to have effective humanitarian aid to all people in Gaza, wherever they live. 

Question: Chairman Faki, Secretary-General Guterres, we are witnessing a trend on the African continent where UN peacekeeping missions, political missions are asked to withdraw before their mandates are complete. You both touched on this in your opening remarks. We see this in Mali, a chaotic withdrawal of UN peacekeeping forces there. Sudan now, it’s pending in terms of the political mission there and the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo), of courses, is waiting in the wings. 

What does it say about the future of UN peacekeeping, the role of the African Union in that regard moving forward, given the scenes and scenarios and the theatres that are playing themselves up before our eyes today? And then on Sudan, the UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide warned earlier this month of horrific levels of violence with signs of atrocity, crimes being committed, particularly in West Darfur. Is this a failure of the African Union? Is it a failure of IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development)? Is it a failure of the United Nations? Yes, the two military factions are the key protagonists here. But what role has the international community played in terms of this failure? 

Chairperson: The peacekeeping missions in Africa… Well, of course, were at the heart of our discussions this morning. And the first was in May 1960, the first peacekeeping mission. But the nature of the threat has changed in Africa. Rather than peacekeeping, it's a case of bringing about peace in many areas. So the current mandates, as they currently stand, are not in line with the nature of the challenges that we're often seeing in Africa. That's not the result of a lack of saying this for many years. In Mali, we have been saying that there was the possibility of the threat in the north of Mali spilling over into other countries, including Burkina Faso. Only by looking at that example, I think it is quite natural therefore to review the situation. Our approach in the African Union, and this is something that is shared by the SG, is that the nature of these threats that we are seeing in Africa needs to see an appropriate response. We have proposed making our forces available, but these forces need to be financed by the UN budget. This is a threat to peace and security, and therefore, it is the responsibility of the United Nations Security Council. I think that, of course, every situation requires a tailored response. Where the changes are needed, then these changes need to be implemented. I think that is exactly what we are expecting. 

Now the debate, today is to ensure that the Security Council accords the necessary financing for these operations to be as such. 

Secretary-General: Allow me first an observation. The drawdown of the Mali operation is not chaotic. It is taking place as planned. And I must say that the operation of withdrawal from Kidal, Tessalit and Aguelhok of a convoy with 14 kilometres, being able to do so with lots of IED (improvised explosive devices) on the way, without the possibility of having air surveillance because it was denied by the Malian authorities and to be able to come to Gao without one single casualty, one single peacekeeper dying, is a remarkable operation, and I want to pay tribute to the courage of the peacekeepers that they've done it. By the way, a large part of this force was Chadian soldiers that have been heroic in their work. 

Having said so, I do believe that it must make sense to have peacekeeping missions where there is no peace to keep. And where the problems are problems of, namely, terrorism and other forms of violent extreme confrontation. Peacekeeping missions make sense in order to stabilize situations after a peace process taking place. When we have situations like the one we have in Mali or the one we have in other areas affected by terrorism, what we need is peace enforcing and counterterrorism operations. The UN has not the vocation to do so. The African Union has, and we fully support that that should be done with African Union-led operations with a full mandate of the Security Council under Chapter 7 and with assessed contributions decided also at the Security Council level and at the UN level. And to those that have sometimes doubts about the African Union in this regard, I have to say that the rules of compliance that the African Union has established are perfectly compatible with ours. And the agreement that we established today on human rights is a further guarantee that we can trust the African Union to organize effective peace enforcing operations in Africa.  Sorry? 

Question: Sudan. 

Secretary-General: You know, I must tell you that I find your question a bit funny. I mean, you have two generals that completely disregard the interests of their population - that in a struggle for power, have been fighting and in some situations with massacres, like the one of the Masalit that has occurred. 

After a gigantic effort that was led by the African Union that established an agreement that should lead to a full democratization of Sudan - and all of a sudden, instead of implementing that agreement, they do coups d'état, and after that, they fight each other and probably with the support in money and weapons by some others and then people say it's the fault of the African Union or the United Nations. 

I think it's time to call a spade a spade. This is the fault of those that sacrificed the interests of their people for a pure struggle for power, and they're the ones that support them, based on considerations that I would not like to comment today. 

Chairperson: Sudan is at war. The Secretary-General recalled that in 2019, the AU deployed a mission. And after discussions for several months, we reached an agreement to organize the transition. Unfortunately, in October 2021, there was a coup d’état, the perpetrators of which are the two generals, the president and the vice president of the so-called Sovereignty Council. Currently, we have war in Sudan. As we and some several of our partners are working to see a cessation of hostilities; there is a process in Jeddah and Saudi Arabia, I hope and I've been told that things are moving forward. We might see a ceasefire immediately. After that, obviously, there will be investigations, inquiries, there will be responsibilities drawn up and we're currently focusing on stopping the hostilities, IGAD and the AU are working to launch a political process to bring them to a situation where a transition can come to an end and where elections can be held. Unfortunately, we're not there yet.

Question: Okay. Thank you. From what you have mentioned, we know that military coup is a big challenge in Africa, and we cannot ignore that. So what will you say is responsible for the military coup and with what we're experiencing - an attempt in Sierra Leone on Sunday, what could be done to prevent that? Then secondly, what is your response to the appeal from the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) parliament, urging the heads of states within their bloc to lift the sanctions imposed on Niger following the military coup on July 26?  

Chairperson: Coup d'état is a violation of democratic rules in states. They are a phenomenon that we thought was definitively over and done with, in the African continent. Unfortunately, we've seen six Coups d'état, six French states have been suspended from the African Union due to unconstitutional changes of government. The reasons for this are manifold, but it is not acceptable for the devolution of power to happen in such a way. ECOWAS will be soon organizing a summit to be able to assess the situation in these countries. I'm not well aware of the situation of the parliament on that, but it does fall under the regional organization that is the ECOWAS. 

Secretary-General: I fully support what has been said.

Question: I would like to know if you think that the African Union should maintain sanctions against the perpetrators of the coup d’état or not, because many people are wondering about whether these sanctions should be maintained. They seem to have no impact on the perpetrators. Notably, if one looks at the Niger, where the junta appears to be standing ground. And secondly, I have heard you talk about colonization. But don't you think that the problem in Africa today is poor governance? 

Chairperson:  Of course, the issue of governance is at the heart of that. We've never denied that there is often the issue of governance that is behind these coups and situations that may evolve. I would recall that the African Union doesn't generally take economic sanctions; sanctions taken by the African Union entails suspending a country when there is a constitutional transfer of power until order is restored so that country is suspended from all the African Union's activities. Of course, we stand in solidarity with decisions taken by regional organizations following the principle of subsidiarity, they're able to really appreciate what's going on in this specific country. Of course, we need to avoid sanctions having a negative impact on ordinary people and no impact on the perpetrators. So this is part of the deterrents that there are. But I think this is something that is at the heart of the discussions that we're having at the continental and regional level today. 

Question: Thank you very much. To Chairman Faki, I was just wondering if you could go into a little more detail about the effect that the end of the Black Sea Grain initiative has had on Africa, in terms of getting grain and food sources. And to the Secretary-General, just going to ask on Gaza. The Israeli prime minister has said that once the hostage exchange pauses conclude, fighting will resume. It's anticipated that Israel will push further into southern Gaza. There's already over a million and a half people displaced there. What's your message to the Israeli Government as it conducts its military activities going forward? And will it be possible to continue to deliver aid in such circumstances and such hostilities?  

Chairperson: In any case, what's happening in Ukraine is having a direct impact all over the world, particularly the African continent, which is a net importer of grain and fertilizers. That's why since the outset of this. The African continent very much wanted, and I think that I was one of the first to react to ensure that this conflict could have a political solution and preferably under the auspices of the UN because we know and we've seen as a result of this that the consequences on the African continent… economy and households are being… are disastrous. 

Firstly, we see increasing prices of energy, food products and also fertilizers. This is having a negative impact on productivity in African agriculture. That's why we welcomed the Secretary-General's efforts together with Türkiye to reach this grain agreement, and we firmly encourage this approach to try to find solutions on this side and beyond this to find a political solution to what's happening between Ukraine and Russia. 

Secretary-General: My message is very clear. We need a humanitarian ceasefire. We have a dramatic humanitarian situation. At the same time, we want to have the full release of all hostages that we believe should be unconditional and immediate, but we need a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza now. 

Thank you. 

[END]