The European Union welcomes today’s adoption. We congratulate Ghana, Gabon and Mozambique (A3) and commend them for their hard work to get this resolution passed. The resolution is a milestone for African-led Peace Support Operations and a crucial building block in the UN Secretary General’s New Agenda for Peace.

The European Union supports the use of UN-assessed contributions in compliance with relevant agreed standards and mechanisms. The European Union has been funding the tripartite UN-AU-EU project for enhancing and operationalising the African Union Human Rights Compliance Framework, a critical step towards access to UN-assessed contributions.

We welcome the commitment of the African Union, sub-regional organizations and its member states to contribute significantly to the African Union-led Peace Support Operations. Burden and responsibility sharing, including from the African Union, is key, especially to ensure greater ownership by the African Union.

The European Union is the African Union’s number one partner on peace and security issues in terms of political, financial and technical support. From the establishment of the Africa Peace Facility in 2003 to the creation of the European Peace Facility in 2021, the European Union has been a key Partner of Africa on peace and security, and in particular a strong supporter of African-led peace support operations.

Following today’s milestone adoption, and building on our existing partnership, we look forward to working closely with the African Union and African member states in implementing this resolution.