The Secretary-General welcomes the Security Council’s unanimous adoption, on 21 December 2023, of Resolution 2719 (2023) on the financing of African Union-led Peace Support Operations. 

Since the start of his mandate, the Secretary-General has repeatedly called for a new generation of Peace Support Operations led by African partners, with guaranteed funding including through UN assessed contributions, to respond to the peace and security challenges on the continent. This is also one of the key recommendations of his recent policy brief on A New Agenda for Peace. This ground-breaking resolution by the Council will help address a longstanding and critical gap in the international peace and security architecture and bolster the international community’s efforts to tackle peace and security challenges on the continent. 

The Secretary-General is committed to further strengthen the strategic partnership with the African Union, including through the implementation of this milestone resolution. The United Nations will continue its collaborative efforts with the African Union towards political solutions to address conflicts on the continent and enhance AU-UN consultative decision-making process as outlined in the resolution.