UN General Assembly
2000

managing conflicts, such as the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, the Conflict Management Centre and the Early Warning System. More than five years after the creation of these mechanisms, we believe that they should be complemented by the establishment of an operational and effective African peacekeeping force. If such a force were created, it would discourage all subversive actions that underpin conflicts. That is why I have proposed, with a view to strengthening that force, the establishment of an African institute for peace and conflict prevention, with the assistance of the United Nations and the OAU. This institution would train African cadres in the art of 6 negotiation, conflict management and the culture of peace. The persistence of conflicts in Africa seriously affects the continent's opportunities for development and hampers its efforts to achieve unity. It was with a view to remedying this situation that the heads of State and Government of the OAU decided in Syrte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, to transform the OAU into a new organization to be known as the African Union. Its