AU Must Address Root Causes Of Conflict, Not Just Deploy Troops – VP Shettima

Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima has implored the African Union (AU) to reinvigorate diplomacy arsenic the superior and astir effectual means of struggle solution connected the African continent.

He acknowledged the relation played by the AU’s Peace Support Operations (PSOs), a portion designed to maintain, monitor, and physique bid successful Africa done peacekeeping and bid enforcement missions, observing, however, that the cognition comes astatine a immense fiscal cost.

The Vice President, representing President Bola Tinubu, made the telephone during a gathering of the AU Peace and Security Council astatine the level of Heads of State and Government held connected the margins of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) successful New York, United States.

Addressing the Council connected behalf of President Tinubu, VP Shettima, successful a connection by his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha, noted that with the existent UN medication and increasing involvement by accepted partners successful conflicts extracurricular the African continent, it was becoming progressively hard for countries to enarthrosis the full outgo of bid enactment operations connected the continent.

He said, “Our continent indispensable proceed to support a diplomatic attack successful its struggle prevention and solution endeavours. Against this backdrop, we impulse the Council to guarantee that the conception of aboriginal bid operations, peculiarly those mandated by the UN, includes diplomatic and governmental strategies that yet code the basal causes of conflict.

“We besides impulse the Council to guarantee that the existing strategies for aboriginal AU PSOs see elements that would guarantee that nationalist and section institutions tin efficaciously expect and negociate shocks and unbend tensions.”

The Vice President said this was the lone mode the continent’s bid enactment operations tin permission down resilient and self-sustaining bid infrastructure wherever they find themselves.

“We further privation to underscore the existent signifier of proliferation of galore bid initiatives connected our continent, which antagonistic AU’s prevention and solution processes,” helium added.

VP Shettima warned that outer interference successful crises connected the African continent, including the beingness of overseas subject forces, mercenaries and defence contractors successful immoderate subordinate states of the AU, negates the tone of African communal defence and information policy.

Maintaining that meddling successful crises connected the continent is contrary to the African Conflict Prevention and Resolution Initiatives, the Vice President called connected the Council to see adopting a communique to code the loopholes successful struggle resolution.

Accordingly, VP Shettima urged the assembly to see the telephone for the contiguous and unconditional withdrawal of overseas forces from subordinate countries.

He besides told the Council, “To expeditiously code obstacles to the operationalisation of the African Standby Force arsenic good arsenic follow a strategy for the deployment of the African Standby Force successful situations of struggle connected the continent.”

He noted that the assembly would beryllium much palmy if it regularly coordinates, consults and strategically engages akin structures oregon mechanisms of determination economical communities.

“It’s our presumption that struggle prevention and solution connected the continent is simply a substance of solidarity, and moving successful silos should beryllium avoided completely. The AU has capable mechanisms for the prevention of the ever-changing struggle and situation dynamics connected our continent,” the Vice President stated.

Earlier, Mr Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union, who decried the surge successful equipped conflicts and dwindling backing for bid interventions connected the continent, urged subordinate countries to found their ain nationalist peacebuilding and struggle prevention mechanisms.

“Prevention, indeed, indispensable commencement astatine location and indispensable beryllium accordant with the United Nations Charter. Regional organisations specified arsenic the African Union, of course, determination economical commissions and determination mechanisms person a cardinal relation to play successful this regard,” Onanga-Anyanga noted.

In a related development, Vice President Shettima has identified acquisition arsenic the nationalist concern with the highest returns, saying each further twelvemonth successful schoolhouse increases beingness net and reduces the risks of fragility and conflict.

He stated this yesterday during a high-level lawsuit organised by the Permanent Missions of Italy and Nigeria, on with Global Partnership for Education (GPE), connected the margins of the ongoing 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly successful New York, United States.

The lawsuit was hosted to sermon the opportunities that investing successful prime acquisition presents to the world.

VP Shettima noted that...