UN Secretary-General Guterres says Africa is ‘Source of Hope’ for the World

 February 5/2022/ENA/  The UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the collaboration between the UN and AU “is stronger than ever” with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063 as the central pillars.

The UN chief addressed the 35th Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the AU, taking place in Addis Ababa this weekend, via a video message.

Guterres said the collaboration between the UN and AU “is stronger than ever”, with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063 (Africa’s blueprint for a peaceful, integrated and more prosperous continent) as the central pillars.  

The Secretary-General argued that “injustice is deeply embedded in global systems”, but it is Africans who “are paying the heaviest price.”

Africa is “a source of hope” for the world, highlighting the examples of the African Continental Free Trade Area and the Decade of Financial and Economic Inclusion for African Women, he pointed out.

António Guterres stated  that for the last 20 years, the African Union (AU) “has helped to bring this hope to life, in order to enable the continent to realize its enormous potential.”

On green recovery, he said the Glasgow COP26 commitment to double adaptation finance, from 20 billion USD, must be implemented, but it is not enough.

He called on wealthier countries to make good on the 100 billion USD climate finance commitment to developing countries, starting this year, and hold to account private sector partners who have also made commitments.

Lastly, the UN chief said peace across the continent can also work as an engine for recovery.

In multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural States across Africa, Guterres believes an organization like the African Union “is about showing how people can co-exist - even flourish - by working together.”

The UN and AU signed the Joint Framework for Implementation of Africa’s Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in January 2018.

The partnership between the UN and the AU remains a strategic priority for the two organizations and their members, it was learned.