UN Under Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo on Wednesday the 27th of February 2019 called on the international community to lend its support to Africa in achieving the objective of “silencing the guns” by 2020.

Speaking at a Security Council meeting on the cooperation between the UN and regional and subregional organizations in maintaining international peace and security, DiCarlo introduced that the “silencing the guns” is an initiative to promote prevention, management and resolution of conflicts in Africa.

According to DiCarlo, it was the African Union (AU) that pledged in 2013 “not to bequeath the burden of conflict to the next generation of Africans and undertake to end all wars by 2020.”

“The UN-AU strategic partnership has become a cornerstone of the UN’s peace and security initiatives in Africa,” said DiCarlo.

The UN’s partnership with the AU involved concrete action, she said, adding that the UN kicked off a two-year project in January 2018 to support policy dialogue and technical assistance on conflict prevention and mediation in Africa.

She said that the UN has also increased its support to efforts to counter-terrorism and prevent violent extremism in Africa. In June 2018, the UN signed with the AU a memorandum of understanding in this area to increase its cooperation and capacity-building support to the AU and several sub-regional organizations as well as to member states.

Clear evidence has showed that it is Africans, in partnership with the global community, who are leading the way to sustainable peace and prosperity in the continent, said DiCarlo.

“In ‘silencing the guns’ African countries have a central role to play in making the initiative a success, as do the African Union and Africa’s private sector and civil society,” she added.