Pretoria - South Africa has, as President of the UN Security Council, presented a wish-list of priorities that would give the African continent, particularly the African Union (AU), a voice in the global body.
President Jacob Zuma presented the ideas during a sitting of the UNSC in New York on Thursday, where South Africa assumed presidency of the council for the month of January.
Zuma's first proposal was for stronger cooperation between the UNSC and the AU in the prevention and management of conflicts in Africa. He said they should institutionalise the relationship between the two councils; align collective policies, strategies and mechanisms for conflict prevention, mediation and resolution in Africa.
His second proposal was regarding the possibility of developing and defining modalities for cooperation and decision-making between the two institutions.
This, he said, would assist in addressing the challenge of how the UNSC reacts to requests, suggestions and proposals by the AU Peace and Security Council.
"This will assist in ensuring uniformity, consistency and certainty when the two institutions are pursuing a common objective," Zuma told the UNSC.
Another proposal was for a clear division of labour - which would be crucial to the success of the strategic partnership between the two organisations.
According to Zuma, this has to take into account the different competencies, capacities and comparative advantages of the two bodies.
Finally, the issue of capacity building and sustainable resource allocations, he said, remained a fundamental challenge. This was something that the AU needed to discuss with the UN to explore solutions.
Using last year's Libyan conflict as the base for his argument, Zuma said building a stronger relationship between the two bodies was critical in avoiding conflicts. He said the AU's plan was overlooked and instead, Nato forces bombed Libya.
"The consequences of actions that were carried out in Libya in the name of the UN Security Council have spilled over into other countries in the region. A problem which was confined to one country, Libya, has now grown to be a regional problem.
"The lesson we should draw from the Libyan experience is that greater political coherence and a common vision between the AU and the UN are critical in the resolution of African conflicts. The views of the African Union must be listened to if we are to strengthen our relationship and prevent further conflict," said Zuma.
African countries are pushing for the reform of the UN, saying the continent's concerns and voices were not being considered, despite the fact that about 70 percent of the UN agenda concerned Africa.
African countries believe they should be well represented in the UN and its regional bodies must also be given a chance because they were familiar with the issues and often understood the dynamics of the conflict.
Zuma said all Africa needed was a chance as they had in the past decade sufficiently demonstrated the political will and commitment to rid the continent of all conflicts and wars.
"We are working hard to move the continent forward to a sustainable path of socio-economic development and prosperity," he added.
South Africa has assumed the presidency of the UNSC, which rotates monthly among its member states alphabetically, for the month of January.
Diplomats have indicated that South Africa will use its presidency to explore concrete measures to strengthen the relationship between the UN and regional organisations, in particular the AU, in the area of conflict prevention, management and resolution in Africa.
