United Nations Security Council Resolution 1809

Adopted by the Security Council at its 5868th meeting, on 16 April 2008

The Security Council,

Reaffirming all its previous resolutions and presidential statements on the cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations, in particular resolutions 1625 (2005) of 14 September 2005, and 1631 (2005) of 17 October 2005, S/PRST/2004/27 of 20 July 2004, S/PRST/2004/44 of 19 November 2004, S/PRST/2007/7 of 28 March 2007, S/PRST/2007/31 of 28 August 2007 and S/PRST/2007/42 of 6 November 2007,

Also reaffirming its resolutions 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000, 1612 (2005) of 26 July 2005 and 1674 (2006) of 28 April 2006,

Recalling its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and recognizing that cooperation with regional and subregional organizations in matters relating to the maintenance of peace and security and consistent with Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations, can improve collective security,

Welcoming the role of the African Union in efforts to settle conflicts in the African Continent and expressing its support for the peace initiatives conducted by the African Union, and through subregional organizations,

Emphasizing the need to strengthen the role of the United Nations in the prevention of armed conflicts, and stressing utility of developing effective partnerships between the United Nations and regional organizations, in particular the African Union, in order to enable early responses to disputes and emerging crises in Africa, and in this regard noting with interest the Secretary-General’s proposal of conducting joint reviews by the United Nations and regional organizations of the state of peace and security and of mediation endeavours, particularly in Africa where joint mediation is being undertaken,

Recognizing that regional organizations are well positioned to understand the root causes of armed conflicts owing to their knowledge of the region which can be a benefit for their efforts to influence the prevention or resolution of these conflicts,

Stressing the importance of further strengthening cooperation with the African Union in order to assist building its capacity to deal with common collective security challenges in Africa, including through the African Union’s commitment of rapid and appropriate responses to emerging crises situations, and the development of effective strategies for conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding,

Recalling the resolve of Heads of State and Government of the 2005 World Summit to expand, as appropriate, the involvement of regional organizations in the work of the Security Council, and to ensure that regional organizations that have a capacity for the prevention of armed conflict or peacekeeping consider the option of placing such capacity in the framework of the United Nations Standby Arrangements System,

Recognizing the importance of strengthening the capacity of regional and subregional organizations in conflict prevention and crisis management, and in postconflict stabilization,

Taking note of lessons learned from practical cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union, in particular the transition from the African Mission in Burundi (AMIB) to the United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB) and the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID),

Acknowledging the contribution of the United Nations Liaison Office in Addis Ababa in strengthening coordination and cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union, as well as the need to consolidate it so as to enhance its performance,

Recognizing that regional organizations have the responsibility in securing human, financial, logistical and other resources for their organizations, including through obtaining contributions by their members and soliciting contributions from donors to fund their operations, and recognizing the challenges in accessing United Nations assessed contributions for funding regional organizations,

Further recognizing that one major constraint facing some regional organizations, in particular the African Union, in effectively carrying out the mandates of maintaining regional peace and security is securing predictable, sustainable and flexible resources,

Taking note of both the report of the Secretary-General on the relationship between the United Nations and regional organizations, in particular the African Union, in the maintenance of international peace and security (S/2008/186) and the report of the Secretary-General on conflict prevention, particularly in Africa (S/2008/18),

1. Expresses its determination to take effective steps to further enhance the relationship between the United Nations and regional organizations, in particular the African Union, in accordance with Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter;

2. Encourages the continuing involvement of regional and subregional organizations in the peaceful settlement of disputes, including through conflict prevention, confidence-building and mediation efforts;

3. Welcomes regional dialogue and the promotion of shared experiences as well as common regional approaches to the settlement of disputes and other issues relating to peace and security;

4. Welcomes and further encourages the ongoing efforts of the African Union and the subregional organizations to strengthen their peacekeeping capacity and to undertake peacekeeping operations in the continent, in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations and to coordinate with the United Nations, through the Peace and Security Council, as well as ongoing efforts to develop a continental early warning system, response capacity such as the African Standby Force and enhanced mediation capacity, including through the Panel of the Wise;

5. Welcomes recent developments regarding cooperation between the United Nations, the African Union and the European Union, including the contribution of the European Union to the enhancement of African Union capacities;

6. Encourages regional and subregional organizations to strengthen and increase cooperation among them, in particular cooperation between the African Union (AU), Organization of American States (OAS), League of Arab States (LAS), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and European Union (EU), including efforts to enhance their respective capacities, in the maintenance of international peace and security;

7. Expresses its determination to strengthen and make more effective its cooperation with relevant organs of regional organizations, in particular the African Union Peace and Security Council;

8. Expresses its determination to strengthen and enhance cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations, in particular the African Union, in conflict prevention, resolution and management including good offices, mediation support, effective use of sanctions as mandated by the Security Council, electoral assistance, and preventive field presence; and in the case of Africa, focusing on the support to the African Union Panel of the Wise among others;

9. Stresses that common and coordinated efforts undertaken by the United Nations and regional organizations, in particular the African Union in matters of peace and security, should be based on their complimentary capacities, making full use of their experience in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the relevant Statutes of the regional organizations;

10. Underlines the importance of the implementation of the Ten-Year Capacity-Building Programme for the African Union mainly focusing on peace and security, in particular the operationalization of the African Union Standby Force;

11. Encourages the increased engagement of the African Union Peacekeeping Support Team within the Department of Peacekeeping Operations as a coordinating point, aimed at providing necessary expertise and transfer of technical knowledge to enhance the capacity of the African Union’s Peace Support Operations Divisions including in mission planning and management, as well as the deployment of the Department of Political Affairs’ staff to work with the African Union on the operationalization of the Panel of the Wise and other mediation programmes;

12. Calls on the Secretariat in coordination with the African Union Commission to develop a list of needed capacities and recommendations on ways the African Union can further develop military, technical, logistic and administrative capabilities;

13. Encourages closer cooperation between the United Nations Secretariat and the African Union Commission, including through supporting regular follow-up missions by United Nations Secretariat staff to African Union headquarters to provide further assistance, and share experiences;

14. Expresses its determination to further consider how to strengthen the capacity of the United Nations in the prevention of armed conflict, particularly in Africa;

15. Recognizes the important role of the good offices of the Secretary- General in Africa, and encourages the Secretary-General to continue to use mediation as often as possible to help resolve conflicts peacefully, working in coordination and closely with the African Union and other subregional organizations in that regard, as appropriate;

16. Recognizing the need to enhance the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing regional organizations when they undertake peacekeeping under a United Nations mandate, welcomes the Secretary-General’s proposal to set up within three months an African Union-United Nations panel consisting of distinguished persons to consider in-depth the modalities of how to support such peacekeeping operations, in particular start-up funding, equipment and logistics and to consider in-depth lessons from past and current African Union peacekeeping efforts;

17. Requests the Secretary-General to include in his regular reporting to the Security Council, assessments of progress on the cooperation between the United Nations and relevant regional organizations;

18. Decides to remain seized of the matter.