On 13 April, UNOAU facilitated the monthly informal Coordination Meeting between the President of the UN Security Council (UNSC) and Chair of the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) for the month of April 2022. The UNSC was represented by Ambassador James Kariuki, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom (UK) to the UN, and the AUPSC was represented by Ambassador Willy Nyamitwe, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Burundi to Ethiopia and the AU.

Ambassador James Kariuki briefed on the UNSC’s Program of Work in April, informing that this month’s agenda will focus on Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa. On Africa-related files, he briefed that the UNSC will focus on Mali, Libya, Western Sahara, Sudan, South Sudan and the Great Lakes region. He briefed on his meeting with the Secretary-General on the security situation in the Great Lakes region, including the recent surge of violence in the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and further welcomed the rapprochement among countries in the Great Lakes region. On his part, Ambassador Willy Nyamitwe briefed on the AUPSC’s Program of Work in April, highlighting the AUPSC sessions to discuss political transitions in Sudan, Chad, Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, the financing of the AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) with a Reflection Forum to be held in Burundi. He underlined that the Program of Work did feature less sessions in order to accommodate those Member States celebrating Ramadan.

Ambassador Kariuki welcomed the AU Extraordinary Summit on unconstitutional changes of government planned for May 2022. He also welcomed the planned AUPSC ‘Debate on climate change, peace and security in Africa’ to take place on 21 April, noting that this issue remained of high importance for the UNSC, notably the impact of climate change on security in the Sahel and South Sudan. Both Ambassadors underscored the importance of focusing on unconstitutional changes of government (UCGs) during their respective Presidencies. They discussed the impact of the conflict in Ukraine on developing countries. They also exchanged views on the need to scale-up interventions aimed at mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on peace and security on the continent, including increasing mobilisation of communities to embrace vaccinations. The AUPSC Chairperson and the UNSC President agreed to maintain regular contact to share ideas and to harmonize views, for better impact on the work of both Councils.