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Secretary General: Thank you very much for your presence. As I just said at the Peace and Security Council [African Union]: if the UN fails in Africa, the UN fails. On the other hand, African leadership is essential to solving African problems. If these two things are true, the only way for the UN to deliver is a very strong and close partnership with the African Union and I am extremely grateful to President Faki for the excellent development that our relations have had recently.
We are fully aligned with our economic agendas: the 2063 Agenda of the African Union and the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations which are now the same agenda. I strongly urge the international community to ensure that these programs are fully funded, and I also warmly congratulate the African Union for its very important initiative on corruption. I call on the international community to do everything possible so that illegal financial flows, money laundering and tax evasion do not allow $ 50 billion to leave the African continent each year. It is a responsibility to support Africa to ensure that African resources remain in Africa to support Africa's development.
At the same time, we work very closely in peace and security. I would like to say that we feel a wind blowing in the direction of peace. The visit of Ethiopia [Prime Minister] to Eritrea was an incredible success. The recent decisions of IGAD on South Sudan and the Khartoum summit, some decisions of heads of states from different countries in crisis paving the way for future political solutions – all of this gives us the opportunity to do so. hope that the African continent will move more and more in the right direction for peace and security.
But, of course, we also have very dramatic crisis situations. We have four peacekeeping operations, in Mali, in the DRC, in South Sudan, in the Central African Republic, where we no longer have traditional peacekeeping; Where you have all kinds of armed groups, terrorist operators, we have peacekeepers who are killed. We commit ourselves to profoundly reform our peacekeeping operations in close coordination with the African Union, but we also recognize that peacekeeping is not enough, that we need peace and counter-terrorism and that the African Union and its organizations particularly suited to these operations. But as was the case with AMISOM and now with G5 Sahel, the way these operations were conducted in the past has not received enough support from the international community. We need peace in Africa, counter-terrorism in Africa, African forces, but with clear Security Council mandates, in my opinion, ideally in chapter seven and with predictable funding, namely the financing of contributions collections. [19659002] We must understand that when African troops fight terrorists in the Sahel, they not only protect the citizens of the Sahel, they protect the entire world. The world must be in solidarity with Africa, the African forces protecting us all. We will stand with the African Union to ensure that peace and security in Africa remain a priority for the entire international community.
[Questions on UNAIDS in Ethiopia and on Ethiopia-Eritrea relations]
SG: Regarding the first question, I have to say this is the first time I hear about it. The Secretary – General does not control the various autonomous organizations that exist in the United Nations world, but I will come back to them as soon as I arrive and use my good offices for the future. ensure that the organization you mention is able to solve the problem
I would like to say that I believe that recent developments with respect to Eritrea and Ethiopia is a signal of Very important hope, not only for the two countries, not only for Africa, but also for Africa. the whole world. When we see so many conflicts and we look so many years where these two countries have not been able to meet, it is really a very good news that the political will of both countries to resolve their problems is now obvious. The UN is ready to do what both parties will ask us to do. It is obvious that it is now up to both parties to decide how they want to solve their problems, but the UN will be fully at their disposal to do whatever is necessary to facilitate the success of what needs to be done and especially with regard to border issues
There are still underlying trends in peace around the world, but there are also positive trends. I think the positive currents are now much stronger than the underlying currents. And if we look at the map that the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia have to gain from the point of view of the development of the two countries by the establishment of friendship between them, economic cooperation, do I think of such a positive contribution? I believe that both countries will help to alleviate any difficulties that may still arise and that the obvious and obvious benefits that Ethiopia and Eritrea will gain from the solution of their problems will overcome any difficulties. It is my hope and it is also my sincere wish.
Sanctions are of course a decision of the Security Council, I can not make decisions on this. The sanctions were motivated by a number of events that took place. I believe that these events will no longer exist if the reasons that led to the sanctions no longer exist, but it depends of course on the specific nature of these sanctions. They will naturally become obsolete, but what seems important to me right now is that the two countries come together and, of course, they pave the way for the solution of many other problems.
[Question on South Sudan]
SG: I completely agree. I lived as High Commissioner for Refugees, the drama of the South Sudanese people. I remember the signing of the peace agreement, 18 years or 19 years later, no, 13 years later, I began my duties as High Commissioner for Refugees and three days later, I was in northern Uganda in the south. Sudanese refugee camp and you can not imagine the joy of people with the peace agreement. Then I myself accompanied the refugees who returned to South Sudan when South Sudan became independent. Now, you can imagine that, after a few years, 500,000 people have returned home and more than 1,000,000 have had to leave, millions of internally displaced people and the number of people killed, the number of children killed, it is really horrible. This conflict is a horrible conflict. This conflict must stop. And so I have to tell you, when I saw that there was a chance for peace, I immediately believe that we must all do our utmost to make this chance a reality. Now, the details of the transition arrangement may not be perfect. I think it's totally secondary if peace is actually achieved. Now, if peace fails, I believe, and I fully agree with President Faki, that it is impossible to make the accountability of those responsible for peace vis-à-vis the international community. But now the goal must be to make peace prevail, which is much more important than the details of any power-sharing agreement.
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