Foreign Minister affirms need to support African solutions for African problems

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry asserted the need to support African solutions for African problems.

During his visit to the UN headquarters in New York, Shoukry took part in the Round Table Talks that were organized by the International Institute for Peace in order to discuss ways to bolster cooperation and coordination between the UN and the AU in peacekeeping, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Ahmed Abu Zeid, the official spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, stated that the Foreign Minister gave a speech during the session that focused on the importance of coordination and cooperation between the AU and the UN in order to guarantee that peacekeeping efforts are not in vain.

"This comes at a time when most of the peacekeeping operations being conducted today in the world are in the African continent," the statement said.

"Shoukry again affirmed that there is a need to support African solutions for African problems in the continent and that the coordination between both organizations must be genuine and effective in order to help plan out the process of peacekeeping operations."

He also stressed "the importance of maintaining and reinforcing the capabilities and effectiveness of the peacekeeping forces in Africa through joint training operations as well as guaranteeing conformity in the rules of engagement for peacekeeping operations under UN and AU jurisdiction."

The spokesperson added that Foreign Minister Shoukry had noted that chapter 8 of the UN charter outlines in a very clear manner the ways of cooperation between the International Organizations and Regional ones.

He pointed out "the importance of having African states take part in the review process that is being conducted on the UN peacekeeping operations structure in such a manner that achieves full and harmonious cooperation between the UN and the AU."

He said that "this highlights the importance of an all-encompassing cooperation and participation by all states in the current review process being done at the moment, as this would ensure that having African states involved would mean preventing a repeat of these conflicts from arising again and dealing with the root cause of the conflict."

"This would also offer the opportunity to provide the necessary funding and security for African participation in peacekeeping operations, avoiding the usual challenges that arise due to a lack of funds," according to the statement.

The spokesperson added that the session organized by the International Institute for Peace included a number of participants such as the Swedish Foreign Minister, the President of the General Assembly of the UN, and the Deputy Secretary General of the UN “Ian Alisson”.

It also included former President of East Timor, who is the head of the high level committee that was formed in the UN to tackle the review of UN peacekeeping operations. 

Source : MENA