14 June 2007
South Africa will, together with the United Kingdom, head the visit of the
United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to the Headquarters of the African Union
(AU) in Addis Ababa, to Accra, Ghana as well as to Sudan, Cote d'Ivoire and
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from Saturday to Friday, 16 to 22 June
2007.
Under South Africa's co-leadership in Addis Ababa the UNSC will hold
discussions with the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) that will focus on
identifying ways in which the co-operation between the two bodies can be
further enhanced. The discussion will also address some of the conflict
situations on the agendas of the UNSC and the AU PSC.
South Africa is honoured to have been nominated as a leader of this visit to
Addis Ababa in view of the decision to use our two-year tenure in the UNSC to
seek ways of deepening the relationship between the UN and the AU.
It will be recalled that during South Africa's presidency of the Security
Council in March 2007 Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma chaired a UNSC thematic
discussion on the subject. The agenda of the UNSC continues to be dominated by
African conflict situations.
The visit to Ghana is also significant in view of the fact that Ghana is the
current chair of the AU.
The visit by the UNSC to Africa generally comes against the backdrop of
positive developments in some of the countries on the agenda of the UNSC. The
successful elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the signing of
the Ouagadougou Peace Agreement by the leaders of Cote d'Ivoire both signal new
beginnings for these countries. It is imperative that the international
community continues its support to ensure that progress achieved is not
reversed.
The acceptance by the Government of Sudan of the UN-AU hybrid force for
Darfur is a significant step in the international efforts to resolve the
situation in Darfur.
Enquiries:
Ronnie Mamoepa
Cell: 082 990 4853
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
14 June 2007
