Norway signed an agreement with the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU) on July 14, 2020, for support to the implementation of the UN-AU partnership in peace and security. The agreement will be implemented from July 2020 to December 2022 at the cost of 12 million Norwegian Kroner (approx.  US$  1.3  million). The agreement is in support of the objectives outlined in the Joint UN-AU Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the AU (SRSG) and Head of UNOAU, Ms. Hanna Tetteh, said “I would like to thank the Kingdom of Norway and the Norwegian delegation to the AU in Addis Abeba for supporting UNOAU’s work in the past, and for continuing to support our work in the implementation  of  the  Joint  UN-AU  Framework,  and  especially  to  strengthen  the  peace  and security architecture. This is the second agreement with Norway. The first agreement covered the period June 2017-2020”.

“We are very appreciative of the doubling of the financial support provided to our office and the critical projects that we will be able to execute with these resources, and grateful for your support of the UN-AU partnership, which is a strategic priority of the UN Secretary-General”.

Ms Tetteh also congratulated Norway on being elected to serve as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2021-2022. She acknowledged the Norwegian Permanent Representative to the African Union, Ambassador Morten Aasland’s commitment to supporting the UN-AU partnership and thanked him as his tour of duty comes to an end.

In his remarks at the signing ceremony, Ambassador Aasland said, “Norway has been and remains an important partner for the UN-AU partnership in peace and security, and our partnership is strong. We view a further strengthening of UN-AU relations as essential, for peace and security, and sustainable development on the continent. We are honoured to support the UN-AU relationship on conflict prevention, mediation support, women, peace and security and various other issues. With the new agreement, we have laid the basis for continued strong cooperation. We are proud of what we have achieved together, working closely with the UNOAU and the AU”.

The work plan focuses on advancing the UN-AU partnership around five priority areas. 1) Enhancing conflict prevention analysis and responses among UN, AU and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as well as through supporting Youth, Women, Peace and Security agendas; 2) Support to the AU Mediation Support Unit and the development of specific tools for AU high- level mediators and representatives on the governance of the security sector; 3) Enhancing the UNSC and the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) relations and responses; 4) Human Rights and Conduct and Discipline Compliance in AU peace support operations and; 5) delivery of effective training and capacity building of mediators on key thematic issues. The funding will also support the UNOAU’s efforts to expand its scope of engagement with the AU in election-related assistance.