Vietnam supports the promotion of the strategic partnership between the UN and the African Union (AU) in peacekeeping in accordance with the UN Charter and Resolution 1809 and other relevant presidential statements of the UN Security Council.

The Permanent Representative of Vietnam , Ambassador Le Luong Minh, delivered this message at the UNSC’s debate on “Peace and Security in Africa” in New York on Oct. 26.

While affirming the UNSC’s primary responsibility in the maintenance of international peace and security, Minh said regional and sub-regional organisations are playing an increasingly significant part in peacekeeping operations authorised by the UN.

The ambassador praised considerable progress in the UN-AU cooperation and stressed that finding ways and means to effectively support the AU peacekeeping operations will facilitate UNSC’s task of maintaining international peace and security.

In this spirit, enhanced dialogue and close consultation should be further promoted between the UN and the AU, especially between the UNSC and the AU Commission in their respective decision making processes, Minh said.

He noted that further support should be extended to ensure the successful finalisation of the UN-AU 10-year Capacity Building Programme and to assist the AU in building the African Standby Force (ASF).

The diplomat also called on all able donor countries to extend necessary financial and logistical resources to facilitate the implementation of present and future AU peacekeeping operations authorised by the UN.

Having emphasised the role of the political solution to conflicts in Africa , Minh said alongside with the deployment of peacekeeping operations, an adequate attention should be paid to preventive diplomacy, early warning, conflict prevention and mediation.

Earmarking sufficient resources for socio-economic development to address the root causes of conflicts in this continent must be considered a priority because this is the only way to prevent the recurrence of conflicts and sustain peace and stability where it has been hard earned, he stressed.

Ambassador Minh, who holds the rotating presidency of the council in October, issued a presidential statement at the end of the session, affirming the council’s stance on these issues./.