Check against delivery

Germany fully aligns itself with the EU statement: Indeed, there can never be a one-size-fits-all solution for sustaining peace in Africa. Every single effort has to take the heterogeneous nature of conflicts on the African continent and the rich diversity of African societies into full account. Our joint commitment to tackling the structural drivers and causes of conflict, violence and fragility in Africa requires an integrated approach – linking crisis prevention, stabilization, conflict resolution and peacebuilding with sustainable development under a strong African lead.

We all agree that ownership and regional initiatives are key. But yet, there is a lot more we can do to capacitate our African partners to expand African peace efforts, make them more effective and help ensure that they are sufficiently and reliably funded. Merely echoing the slogan “African solutions to African problems” is not enough – we prefer to focus on concrete action.

For this very reason, strengthening African peace efforts and regional cross-border cooperation is a primary and long-standing guideline of Germany’s Africa policy. So far, Germany has supported the AU with more than half a billion euros. This makes Germany one of the largest bilateral donors to the African Union and many of its milestone projects, such as the Border Programme. Germany is a key political and financial supporter of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) – not only in the areas of early warning, mediation, good governance, but also in fostering human rights protection and the promotion of women’s inclusion in peace processes. Germany thereby contributes in very concrete ways to help achieve Africa’s common goals of the Agenda 2063.

Our line of support to APSA is complemented by deepened bilateral security cooperation with a number of African countries. In the Lake Chad Basin we have partnered with UNDP and the Governments of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad to create a Regional Stabilisation Facility that has been instrumental in supporting locally led peace efforts. Likewise, our Enable and Enhance Initiative is based on the firm conviction that local actors are better placed to sustainably pacify local conflicts, if they are well-trained and -equipped to act in accordance with the rule of law. For instance, we support Niger’s border security and border management. A well-functioning border enhances not only a country’s national security, but also enables it to address transnational challenges in the field of organized crime.

The humanitarian and economic crisis from rising inflation and food insecurity in Africa – further exacerbated by Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine – makes it all the more important to not only provide affected countries with immediate relief, but to also strengthen the AU’s vital role in preventive diplomacy and fostering democratic resilience. It is our shared responsibility to do more to support African regional organizations in facing common threats to our collective security.

We therefore encourage all member states to follow the call of the African Union for increased support to African-owned, regional conflict prevention, mediation, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. The last Arria Formula Meeting, organized by Ghana, reminded us of the largely unmet need for predictable and sustained UN support to African peace initiatives. Progress on this is more urgent than ever.

In order to meet our joint commitment to preventing conflict and sustaining peace, we also strongly support the call of the AU and others to ensure adequacy and sustainability of funding for UN Peacebuilding, including through the introduction of assessed contributions.

Let me close by reiterating that Germany, together with its EU partners, stands ready to do its part to identify concrete ways for the UN and its members to support the invaluable efforts of the AU and African regional organizations towards maintaining peace and security in Africa – and beyond.