April 2010 Monthly Forecast

Posted 31 March 2010
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PEACEMAKING, PEACEKEEPING AND PEACEBUILDING

AU Support for Peacekeeping

Expected Council Action
Council members are expecting a briefing in April in informal consultations on support for AU peacekeeping, as requested in the October 2009 presidential statement on Peace and Security in Africa. No action is expected at this stage as the Council is expecting a progress report by 26 October 2010.

Background
On 16 April 2008 the Council held a debate on strengthening relationships between the UN and regional organisations and adopted resolution 1809 welcoming the establishment of a joint AU-UN panel to consider options for supporting AU peacekeeping operations. After its chair, former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, it became known as the “Prodi Panel”.

The Prodi Panel’s report was transmitted to the Council in December 2008. It addressed capacity building for conflict prevention in Africa and offered several recommendations involving UN funding from assessed contributions, funding to support AU peacekeeping operations and develop AU logistics capacity.

On 18 March 2009 the Council held a high-level debate on the Prodi report which revealed considerable reservations about the recommendations. The Council adopted a presidential statement requesting the Secretary-General to update “a detailed assessment of the recommendations” particularly those on financing and establishing a joint AU-UN team.

In September 2009, the Secretary-General proposed a number of alternate ways for the UN to help the AU improve effectiveness in deploying and managing peacekeeping operations. He made several suggestions for strengthening the partnership between the UN and AU. (For more details on the Prodi report and the Secretary-General’s assessment see Security Council Report’s March 2009 Monthly Forecast and 22 October 2009 Update Report.)

The Council held an open debate on the Secretary-General’s report on 26 October 2009 and issued a presidential statement welcoming the intentions of the UN Secretariat and the AU Commission to establish a joint taskforce on peace and security and asked the Secretary-General provide an update by 26 April 2010. The upcoming briefing will provide this update.

Council Dynamics
Most Council members are supportive of strengthening the partnership between the AU and UN. However, there are some significant differences among members over any thematic approval for using assessed contributions for financing AU peacekeeping operations. It is significant to note, however, that the Council has been willing on a case by case basis to consider such funding on an exceptional basis. In August 2006 the Council approved the use of UN support for the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) and again in January 2009 for the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

UN Documents

Resolutions

  • S/RES/1863 (16 January 2009) requested the Secretary-General to establish a trust fund to provide financial support to AMISOM.
  • S/RES/1809 (16 April 2008) welcomed the proposal to establish the joint AU-UN panel on modalities for support to AU peacekeeping operations.
  • S/RES/1706 (31 August 2006) requested the Secretary-General to take the necessary steps to strengthen AMIS through the use of existing and additional UN resources.

Presidential Statements

  • S/PRST/2009/26 (26 October 2009) welcomed the intention of the UN Secretariat and AU Commission to establish a joint task force on peace and security and requested an update by 26 April 2010.
  • S/PRST/2009/3 (18 March 2009) followed the meeting on the AU-UN Panel’s report.

Security Council Debates

  • S/PV.6206 (26 October 2009) was the debate on the Secretary-General’s assessment of the Prodi report.
  • S/PV.6092 (18 March 2009) was the debate on the Prodi report.
  • S/PV.5868 (16 April 2008) was the debate on strengthening the relationship between the UN and regional organisations.

Other

  • S/2009/470 (18 September 2009) assessed the Prodi report’s recommendations.
  • S/2008/813 (24 December 2008) was the letter transmitting the Prodi report.

Full forecast

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