Mr President,

Germany aligns itself with the Statement by the European Union and welcomes the participation and statement of the Chair of the PBC.

I want to thank Mozambique for organizing today’s debate and commend you, Mr. President, for focusing on the solutions that African countries bring to the table to respond to global security and development challenges. We value your contributions!

Mr President, dear colleagues,

As members of the European Union, we experience every day, that mutual trust among neighbours and close regional cooperation and integration are key to peaceful societies and economic development.

African countries have chosen the path of regional cooperation more than six decades ago and have continuously deepened it since, with the creation of the African Union and the strengthening of sub-regional organisations. Germany is a convinced supporter of the African Union’s Peace and Security and Governance Architectures.

Mr. President, I will focus my intervention on two specific examples of successful African regional cooperation on peace, development and climate that we can all learn from:

1. The regional stabilization facility in the Lake Chad region has bolstered cooperation between Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger and Tchad and led to significant progress in strengthening state authorities and securing areas to allow people affected by terrorism to return home. The facility offers a platform to actively engage regionally and increase cross-border cooperation to enhance peace, security and development and can serve as a model elsewhere, in Africa and beyond.

To sustainably address security and development challenges in the region, Germany proposes to establish a “Nexus Funding Facility” as a next step: a regional funding instrument to engage all actors across the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus.

2. We welcome the Africa Climate Security Risk Assessment, developed by the African Union and partners, and their steps towards a common African position on Climate, Peace and Security. Germany supports the AU’s efforts to strengthen regional cooperation in this field through projects such as the UN Climate Security Mechanism in the Sahel or the “Weathering Risk Initiative” with initiatives in Somalia and Nigeria.

These are just two of many innovative examples of successful regional cooperation in Africa in the field of peace, security and development. What they all have in common is strong African ownership and conviction of all countries involved, that challenges that transcend borders are better solved through close regional cooperation.

In closing, allow me to also address the global level and the need for a strengthened African voice in all relevant multilateral fora: we have actively supported the AU’s membership in the G20. Now that we achieved it, we need to deliver tangible results for African countries, i. e. by improving and implementing the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatments as an important tool for debt restructuring.

Germany remains ready to strengthen the African voice on the global stage.

I thank you.