The 16th United Nations – African Union Joint Task Force (JTF) on Peace and Security was held in Addis Ababa on February 12, 2019 following the close of the 32nd Ordinary Session of the African Union Summit.
The meeting was attended by Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, SRSG to the African Union and Head of UNOAU, Ms. Hanna Tetteh, the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Africa, Ms. Bience Gawanas, the African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security, Ambassador Smail Chergui, the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Ms. Minata Cessouma Samate, and the AUC Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Fatima Mohammed. The JTF meeting discussed various peace and security situations across the continent, and reviewed progress made in the implementation of the Joint UN – AU Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security signed in 2017.
SRSG Tetteh provided an update of joint activities undertaken under the UN – AU partnership in 2018 under pillars of the peace and security framework. Some of these included joint UN - AU collaboration in elections held in Madagascar as well as joint UN – AU field visits and assessment missions to the Central African Republic, Chad, Niger, the Sahel region, Sudan and South Sudan. In reference to the women peace and security agenda, UN – AU collaboration strengthened women’s participation in mediation in addition to support that enhanced capacities for female police officers to be eligible for senior leadership appointment in UN and AU missions. She also highlighted the Joint AU-UN Declaration of 6 December 2018 which has added an impetus to ongoing efforts on implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 2320 & 2378.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU).
