Security Council resolution 1809 (2008) [on cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations, in particular the African Union, in the maintenance of international peace and security]
Symbol: S/RES/1809(2008)
Date: 2008-04-16
Status: adopted
Agenda: S/63 [9] REGIONAL ORGANIZATION--UN
S/63 [100] AFRICA--REGIONAL SECURITY
Subjects: UN|African Union|European Union|OAS|League of Arab States|ASEAN|UN. Security Council|African Union. Peace and Security Council|African Union. Panel of the Wise|African Standby Force|UN. Department of Peacekeeping Operations. African Union Peacekeeping Support Team|UN. Department of Political Affairs|UN. Secretariat|African Union. Commission|Ten-year Capacity-Building Programme for the African Union|Charter of the United Nations (1945)|REGIONAL SECURITY|PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS|PEACEBUILDING|AFRICA|COOPERATION BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS|REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS|TECHNICAL COOPERATION|PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY|DISPUTE SETTLEMENT|EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS|INTERNATIONAL SECURITY|CAPACITY BUILDING|MEDIATION|GOOD OFFICES|SANCTIONS|FOCAL POINTS
Votes in favour: 15
Votes against: 0
Abstentions: 0
Voting record:
country: BELGIUM
vote: yes
country: BURKINA FASO
vote: yes
country: CHINA
vote: yes
country: COSTA RICA
vote: yes
country: CROATIA
vote: yes
country: FRANCE
vote: yes
country: INDONESIA
vote: yes
country: ITALY
vote: yes
country: LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA
vote: yes
country: PANAMA
vote: yes
country: RUSSIAN FEDERATION
vote: yes
country: SOUTH AFRICA
vote: yes
country: UNITED KINGDOM
vote: yes
country: UNITED STATES
vote: yes
country: VIET NAM
vote: yes

               United Nations                                                                      S/RES/1809 (2008)
               Security Council                                                  Distr.: General
                                                                                 16 April 2008




               Resolution 1809 (2008)
               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


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               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;




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                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;




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                    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.




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