UN Secretary-General António Guterres convened the second AU-UN Annual Conference at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The second Annual Conference reviewed the implementation of the Joint Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security and welcomed the progress made.

The Conference considered security contexts on the continent and ongoing initiatives. It called for strengthening of a comprehensive, integrated and coordinated approach to conflict prevention by addressing the root causes of conflicts, strengthening political processes and respect for rule of law as well as the promotion of sustainable and inclusive development. The Conference undertook to enhance collaboration, cooperation and coordination in the search for sustainable solutions to ongoing and future challenges, based on the principles of complementarity, comparative advantage, burden-sharing and collective responsibility to respond early, coherently and decisively to prevent, manage, and resolve conflicts, guided by the established international norms, principles, and rules.

The Conference also endorsed the action plan for the AU-UN Framework for the Implementation of Agenda 2063 and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It underscored the need to promote synergy between Agenda 2030 and 2063, through coherent integration of both agendas into national development frameworks as well as building requisite research, analytical, monitoring and evaluation capacities, at both national and regional levels.

There was an appraisal of the outcomes of the recently concluded AU Assembly session held in Nouakchott Mauritania. The Chairperson and Secretary-General agreed to convene the next AU – UN Annual Conference in New York in 2019.

In addition, the Secretary-General and the AU Commission Chairperson jointly briefed the AU Peace and Security Council on “Cooperation in peacekeeping in Africa.” The Secretary-General and the Chairperson both emphasized that the strategic partnership between the AU and UN is critical and is one that should be deepened. The two leaders also jointly addressed media at the end of the Conference.