Libreville, Gabon | The African Union Commission and the United Nations Office to the African Union convened the Fourth High-Level Joint Retreat of African Union Special Representatives, Permanent and High- Level Representatives, and United Nations Special Representatives and Special Envoys of the Secretary General today in Libreville, Gabon.
The Retreat brought together senior African Union and United Nations officials to strengthen cooperation, joint analysis and coordinated action in response to evolving peace, security and governance challenges across Africa.
Held against the backdrop of the Declaration Reaffirming the Principles of the Three Joint Frameworks, signed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Chairperson of the AU Commission on 13 May, the Retreat provided an opportunity for senior representatives of both organizations to exchange views on regional peace and security priorities, share lessons learned and identify areas for stronger complementarity across the peace continuum, from conflict prevention to peacebuilding.
In his opening remarks, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General to the African Union and Head of UNOAU, recalled that the meeting was taking place shortly after the 10th Annual Conference between the Chairperson of the African Union Commission and the United Nations Secretary-General. He noted that the conference had reaffirmed the strategic partnership between the two organizations as a cornerstone for advancing peace and security, human rights, sustainable development, and progress towards AU Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Special Representative underlined that the recently signed joint declaration had reaffirmed the principles of the three AU UN cooperation frameworks on peace and security, sustainable development and human rights. He stressed that the task now before African Union and United Nations representatives is to translate that shared vision into concrete action, including by leveraging the full depth and potential of the AU-UN partnership in support of peace and security on the African continent.
In his remarks, H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, emphasized that the United Nations and the African Union are linked not only by the principle of subsidiarity, but also by the complementarity arising from the alignment between Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He recalled that, on 13 May 2026 in Addis Ababa, he and the United Nations Secretary General signed a declaration confirming the three cooperation frameworks between the two organizations, with a view to ensuring that the partnership remains sustained, structured and constant.
The Chairperson highlighted the serious challenges facing the continent, including the weakening of multilateralism, the proliferation of crises, institutional fragility, governance deficits, foreign interference, resource constraints, food insecurity, migration pressures and the rising cost of peace and security operations. He stressed that, in the face of complex and interconnected crises, the African Union and the United Nations must consolidate their partnership, act in concert and adopt holistic approaches that link prevention, mediation, crisis resolution and development.
In his remarks, Commissioner Bankole Adeoye underscored that partnership between the AU and the UN is not an option but an imperative necessity. He challenged participants to ensure a peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights-nexus approach in their work.
The retreat reaffirmed the commitment of the African Union and the United Nations to advancing a more coordinated, coherent and effective partnership in support of peace, security and stability on the continent.
