Excellency Mister Ban KI-moon, Secretary general of the United Nations Organization;

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1 Excellency Mister Ban KI-moon, Secretary general of the United Nations Organization; Excellency Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the Africa Union; Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, My thanks and my gratitude to his Excellency Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and all his staff to having invited ECCAS to this retreat so well organized. It gives us the opportunity to keep in touch and to keep dialoguing for a better coherence and a better coordination in our actions on the ground. African Regional Economic Communities are composed of States which are members of the African Union and the United Nations. Their objectives in term of regional integration can t be carried out without peace, security and stability. That why, they have been quite constrained to organize themselves in order to contribute significantly to peace and security in their space. But, as you know, the Security Council s competences and capabilities in the world s peace and security don t suffer from any ambiguity. That s to say that the United Nations, the African Union and the RECs interests are the same when it comes to peace and security, even if, it should be recognized, comparative advantages exist because of the proximity and of the knowledge of the ground with regard to the conflicts in Africa, whether they are intra or interstate. This gives to the notion of subsidiary its entire signification. Obviously, it is not about a simple principle that we require the application blissfully, but it s well about a question of effectiveness and efficiency. Their proximity with the battlefield makes members states of RECs to be the probable collateral victims. That s why they have an unquestionable interest in peace in their space. 1. Opportunities for cooperation between the United Nations and the regional partners in mediation 1

2 The opportunities for cooperation in mediation between the United Nations and the regional partners are numerous, as well on the institutional level as on the operational level: On the institutional level: the cooperation between the United Nations and the RECs would allow the capacity building of the mediation support units within the RECs. This capacity building could be done trough, training, experience sharing, exchange of staff, information sharing, rosters sharing, etc; On the operational level: It is possible to set up joint mediations. In this regard, I would like to welcome, once again, the international mediation set up by ECCAS Heads of States for the Central African Republic, where the mediator of the ECCAS, President Denis SASSOU GUESSO is assisted of two co-mediators of which one from the United Nations (the Special representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations for Central Africa, Mr BATHILY) and one from the African Union (The Special Envoy MAIGA). This international mediation makes it possible to the three main international actors on the ground to keep a permanent dialogue and thus to keep the same course and to ensure a coherence of their actions on the ground. 2. The way forward in building and sustaining peace promoting inclusive political processes and preventing relapse into conflict. Firstly, obtained peace remains fragile if the root causes of the conflict are not addressed. In Africa, the root causes of conflicts are often the bad governance which results in the confiscation of power and resources by a minority, the marginalization, the corruption, the non respect of the human rights, etc. Thus, it is important that the settlement of a conflict includes power sharing, resource sharing and access to education for all. The new constitutions must envisage mechanisms which make it possible to the minorities not to be excluded and marginalized. And the democratic game must be 2

3 respected in order to promote the organization of free, fair and credible elections. Secondly, the issue of the limitation of presidential terms in the constitutions seems to constitute a point of obstacle between the various actors a little everywhere in Africa. It is noted that instead of allowing a sustainable peace, this provision constitutes in itself a risk of relapse into conflict. It seems important to carry out a deep reflection on this matter because many conflicts related to this aspect of the constitutions in Africa challenge us. We can see that the overall intervention of the international community in a debate supposed to be national throws oil on fire instead of calming the heats. We should privilege dialogue for the organization of credible elections instead of the nonproductive escalation of violence around the question of the limitation of the presidential terms. I make this comment because I am very concerned by what is happening in the ECCAS space and what may happen in 2016 with the many presidential elections which will take place. Lastly, to prevent relapse into conflict, post-conflict reconstruction programs must integrate a strong political component which can allow a permanent dialogue between the various actors, including the RECs, the AU, the UN and the international community. 3. The changing role of United Nations peace operations discussion with members of the Secretary General s High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations The changing role of peace operations of the United Nations in Africa is a normal and a positive thing. In fact, the complexity of the intrastate conflicts, in particular in Africa at the beginning of the Nineties, revealed the limits of the United Nations peace operation missions. That s why the RECs gradually obtained competence in the field of peace and security in their space. In this new context, it is important that UN peace operations change to gain in effectiveness: 3

4 - With regard to the troops contribution: it is important that the troops come as much as possible from the concerned REC. Since they come from states that have a direct interest in peace, these troops are more committed and more competitive on the ground. They are more capable of sacrifice than troops who will come from very distant states which can see in the mission only a business. Moreover, the troops of the region can have a capacity of rapid deployment. - With regard to the political process: the sub-regional actors can have a great influence on the main actors of the conflict. Their implication in the political process can give more chance of success. It is thus important to set up a sub-regional mechanism supported by the international community for a political settlement of the conflict. - With regard to financial and material aspects of the mission: It is here that the RECs and the AU need to be supported in their efforts for peace. The United Nations must find the way of giving a significant support to the RECs engaged in peace operations because the job is supposed to be done on behalf of the Security Council who has the primary responsibility for peace in the world. Unfortunately, when it comes to African peacekeeping missions, money gets very scarce. Thanks to The EU for its important financial support. More generally, because of their interests in peace in their region and their proximity of the ground, RECs are better placed to intervene for peace and security in their space. I would like to evoke, as an illustration, the job done by ECCAS in the Central African Republic where the member states did a very huge human and financial sacrifice. In this respect, I would like to welcome the excellent collaboration between the ECCAS, the African Union and the United Nations within the framework of the resolution of the Central African conflict. I would like also to evoke the prompt reaction of ECCAS member states for the fight against the terrorist group Boko Haram. The massive and frank intervention of the states of the basin of the Lake Chad made it possible to significantly reduce the capacity of nuisance of Boko Haram. 4

5 ECCAS organized an extraordinary summit dedicated to the fight against Boko Haram. A joint summit between ECCAS and ECOWAS is envisaged on the question. Lastly, I would like to evoke the sub-regional initiatives taken with regard to security and safety in the Gulf of Guinea. ECCAS, ECOWAS and Guinea Golf Commission (GGC) organized a joint summit which saw the creation of the Interregional Center for Coordination (CIC), supposed to coordinate the actions of the Regional Center for Maritime Security in the Central Africa (CRESMAC) and in the Regional Center for Maritime Security in the West Africa (CRESMAO). 5