On 4 February, UNOAU met with a delegation of the Fifth Committee of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly during their visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. During the meeting with the delegation, SRSG Parfait Onanga-Anyanga shared his views on how to strengthen the partnership between the UN and the African Union (AU) considering the increasingly complex peace and security challenges on the Continent, the expansion of the partnership, and the recently adopted UN Security Council Resolution 2719 (2023).

In his briefing, he provided an overview of the work of the UNOAU, of the partnership in peace and security, and the multiple areas of cooperation between the two organizations, highlighting the regular and frequent engagements at the strategic and operational levels. On cooperation in the development pillar, SRSG recognized the support that the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has been providing to the AU for its participation in the Summit of the Future and underscored the imperative to enhance UN-AU cooperation on development.

In their meeting with the AU Department for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS) and the Peace Fund, discussions focused on Security Council Resolution 2719 (2023), AU peace support operations, and the state of peace and security in Africa. The Peace Fund Secretariat provided an overview of the Peace Fund and how the AU has utilized the fund to finance peace and security activities in Africa. AU PAPS provided an overview of AU-led peace support operations and the strong operational and institutional partnership between PAPS and UNOAU, including in peace operations planning.