Ahead of this meeting, UNOAU working with the African Union Partnership Team of the UN Department of Peacebuilding and Political Affairs (UNDPPA), and with the generous support of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, facilitated an interactive seminar and briefing session for the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) Committee of Experts (CoE) in New York. This meeting was held from 22 to 24 November. The institutionalized annual meeting of the CoE forms part of the ongoing initiatives for strengthening the capacity of the AUPSC for promoting coordination of initiatives for the pursuit of shared objectives of the AUPSC and the UN Security Council (UNSC) and furthering the strategic UN-AU partnership in peace and security.

Convened ahead of the sixth Informal Joint Seminar and the fifteenth Annual Joint Consultative Meeting between the members of the UNSC and the AUPSC scheduled for 16 and 17 December respectively, the CoE’s visit in New York allowed the Experts to hold informal consultations with their UNSC counterparts — the Security Council Ad-hoc Working Group — to exchange views on the preparations for the success of the cited meeting.

During the visit, the CoE received briefings from the Divisions of the Department of Political and Peace Building Affairs and of the Department of Peace Operations, covering the political and security developments and processes in Libya, the Great Lakes, Mali and the Sahel and Somalia, among others. Additionally, the UN Electoral Affairs Division shared information on the initiatives and tools that it continues to avail on elections process designs, including capacity building and associated technical support, stressing that these are largely demand driven, and therefore encouraging the AU member states to leverage such opportunities through the entire electoral cycle, including short-term technical assistance and long-term deployments. The Mediation Support Unit also briefed on the capacity building services to regional international organizations, Regional Economic Communities, member states and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs); the direct operational support to mediation processes; and the production of guidance products for best practices, among others. The issue of gender inclusion was emphasized as a critical area to promote in any mediation process design. In the briefing on initiatives for combating terrorism and violent extremism on the continent, the Office for Counter Terrorism underscored the need to respond to the scourge of terrorism as a matter of global concern, considering the spread of the Islamic State operations in Western, Central and Eastern/Southern Africa (ISWAP and ISCAP).

Regarding climate security, the briefings highlighted the programmes being undertaken with the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) and the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) targeting women and youth to advance early warning systems and building resilience, reducing the impact of climate change on the community. It was observed that climate change effects will increasingly become more complicated with extreme weather conditions. In that regard, the need to prepare for COP27 to be held in Egypt was stressed. Also underscored was the need to address the challenge of land degradation, noting that it is a threat multiplier. The mutual value of both Councils, the synergies, the need for solidarity, cooperation, expertise and the vantage points of either Council were underscored.