UN Security Council President and African Union on Security and Development - (19 July 2018)

After a consultative meeting between members of the Security Council and members of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) (19 Jul), Swedish Ambassador Olof Skoog, said “the challenges to security and development we face are common, and increasingly interconnected” and “when African countries respond, they also respond on our behalf.”
The Chairperson of the AUPSC Sébadé Toba spoke about the situation in South Sudan and said, “the situation in South Sudan, as you know, is very worrying. The people continue to suffer violence, the humanitarian situation is extremely difficult and challenging for us. We congratulate the efforts in conducting the different phases of the revitalization of the accords for the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan that took place in December 2017 and February 2018. We have urged the South Sudanese parties to continue to make the necessary compromises to complete the revitalization process in a timely manner and to reach an inclusive, credible, and sustainable agreement based on the Khartoum Declaration and the Kampala Agreement.”
On the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC), Skoog said President Joseph Kabila “is committed to respecting the Congolese constitution.”
Skoog noted that in the joint communique issued by the two councils it was underscored that “elections must lead to a peaceful and democratic transfer of power in accordance to the constitution.”
Security Council members and PSC members have held annual joint consultative meetings since 2007, alternating between their respective headquarters in New York and Addis Ababa.
A joint communiqué, is generally issued following these annual meetings.