Participants in the teleconferenced open debate on peace and security in Africa on May 19 (Photo: VNA)The teleconferenced debate,themed “Addressing root causes of conflict while promoting post-pandemicrecovery in Africa”, also saw the presence of UN Secretary-General AntonioGuterres, Chairman of the African Union (AU) Faki Mahamat, UNDP AdministratorAchim Steiner, and senior representatives of UNSC member states.
In their remarks, the UNSecretary-General, the AU Chairman, and the UNDP Administrator noted thatAfrican people are being severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and calledon the UN and the international community to actively carry out activities assistingAfrica, especially enhancing the healthcare system and vaccine accessibility.
They emphasised the need topromote support for post-pandemic recovery and strengthen cooperation betweenthe UN and the AU to boost peacekeeping operations, thereby maintainingstability in the region and creating conditions to realise developments goalstowards achieving the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Africa’sAgenda 2063.
The UNSC’s member statesvoiced concerns over the pandemic’s serious impacts on the socio-economic,political, humanitarian, and security situation in Africa.
They urged strongercooperation to prevent and resolve conflicts in Africa, particularly the rootcauses of conflict, via national reconciliation, industrialisation,agricultural reform, sustainable development, poverty reduction, and inequalityaddressing.
Highlighting the role ofpeacekeeping missions which have helped maintain peace and stability in Africa,they appealed for increasing support for African countries to access vaccines,including via the COVAX Facility.
Speaking at the event,Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son highly valued the unmatched potentialof Africa but also pointed out that centuries of slavery and colonialism havedragged the continent into poverty, under-development and conflicts that arestill prevalent today.
He called for continuedinternational support and assistance for Africa to achieve prosperity and peacevia regional initiatives like Agenda 2063.
Peace, stability and securityare the prerequisites for addressing the current challenges, he affirmed,urging the full implementation of UNSC Resolutions 2352 and 2565, particularlytheir calls for a global ceasefire, and continued support for Africa'sSilencing the Guns initiative.
It is also essential to focuson building trust and reconciliation among communities, promote meaningfulparticipation of women and youth in peace processes, underdevelopment andsocial inequality addressing, post-conflict peace building and post-pandemicrecovery, according to Son.
The minister also underlinedthat close partnership between the UN and the regional and sub-regionalorganisations in Africa, particularly the AU, has undoubtedly served as animportant framework for the provision of financial, humanitarian and technicalassistance to conflict-affected countries in Africa.
On the occasion of President Ho Chi Minh’s 131st birth anniversary (May 19), Son quoted the late Vietnamese leader as saying: “Werejoice at Africa's victories, and it pains us to see Africa's sufferings.”
Vietnam has always stood shoulder to shoulder with the African peoples in thecommon endeavours for sustainable peace and development, he stressed, addingthat it has sent peacekeepers to conflict zones in the Central African Republicand South Sudan, shared development experience and expertise through bilateraland tri-partite cooperation, and offered medical supplies and face masks toAfrica in support of the fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic./.
VNA
