At the meeting the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and AU Commission President Moussa Faki Mahamat signed a framework agreement on human rights, which follows an earlier agreement on peace and security, and another on development.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, they stressed the need to reform the global financial architecture to reflect current realities.
“What Africa needs above all is justice in international relations because Africa has fallen victim to the structural injustices of our international relations,” Mr Guterres said.
Sanctuary for terrorism
Referring to their discussions, Mr. Faki began by focusing on peace and security. He said Africa was going through a “difficult period” as it had become “a haven for terrorism and extremism”, affecting many regions and as some AU peacekeeping operations retreated.
Africa is also facing economic challenges caused by what he called the βtriple crisisβ. COVID 19 the pandemic, climate change and the consequences of the war in Ukraine, which affected the food supply.
He stressed that financing for both development and peace is critical, along with reforming global financial institutions.
A call for climate justice
Mr Faki said the two leaders will attend the COP28 climate conference opening this week in Dubai, which should also be an opportunity to support Africa “which is severely affected by the effects of climate change, although which pollutes very little.”
The transition to green energy must be fair, he said, given that some 600 million people across the continent still lack access to electricity.
βWe also need to ensure that we are on the right track for growth. And this will perhaps help us to mitigate the issue of immigration which has become a particularly sensitive issue for our neighbors in Europe,” he added.
Top priority
Mr Guterres underlined that Africa remains a key priority of the UN, stressing the importance of working with the AU “based on the principle of African-led solutions to African problems”.
He said the continent had been “the double victim of injustice” linked to colonialism and slavery in the past and financial and economic power relations today.
Seeds of disappointment
Africa had some of the highest rates of economic growth in the world before the pandemic, which exposed injustices, including through vaccine distribution and increased debt burdens that are constraining fiscal space.
As a result, countries are unable to meet the basic needs of their populations, who are mainly young, leading to massive frustration that sows the seeds for instability, coups and other developments that undermine peace and security.
“It is very important to give a dual response to these peace and security problems. First of all, let’s recognize that peacekeeping missions are meaningless where there is no peace,” said Mr. Guterres.
Support AU functions
He called for peace enforcement and counter-terrorism operations in Africa, led by the African Union and mandated by the UN security Counciland the assessed contributions required to finance these missions.
“It is the only way to be effective in fighting the kind of violence and terrorism that is now proliferating in many African countries,” he said.
The UN chief also stressed the need to mobilize the international community to address the economic and social root causes of conflicts. “And that is why we are so adamant about the need to reform the international financial institutions to ensure that they correspond to today’s economy and not to the post-World War II economy,” he said.
Gaza and Sudan
During a question-and-answer session, the UN chief was asked about the current ceasefire in Gaza, which has been in place for five days.
Although the truce was “a step in the right direction” and “a symbol of hope”, Mr Guterres said it “does not solve the fundamental problems we face”. He reiterated his call for a humanitarian ceasefire that would lead to the unconditional release of hostages and the delivery of aid to all people in Gaza.
Both leaders were also asked whether the call for the withdrawal of UN peacekeeping forces from Sudan and reports of atrocities in West Darfur represented a failure of the international community.
Mr Guterres described the situation in Sudan β where rival generals have been fighting since mid-April β as βthe fault of those who sacrifice the interests of their people for a pure struggle for power and those who support them based on considerations that I would not like to comment (on) today”.