Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and Secretary-General António Guterres sign a new institutional declaration, renew the push for permanent African seats on the UN Security Council, and commit to stronger financing for African-led peace missions
ADDIS ABABA, 13 May 2026 – When António Guterres stepped before reporters at the African Union headquarters this afternoon, he did not mince his words.
“Africa’s continued exclusion from permanent representation is indeed a historical injustice,” the UN Secretary-General said. “We cannot accept it.”
It was a blunt verdict from a man attending his final AU-UN Annual Conference as Secretary-General. And it captured the sharper tone that now defines the AU-UN partnership for Africa, a gathering the continent is increasingly using to press for structural power, not just diplomatic goodwill
A Declaration That Formalises the Partnership
The most immediate deliverable from today’s conference was a formal one.
Guterres announced that he and Chairperson Youssouf had signed a new declaration reaffirming the principles of their cooperation frameworks, designed to further institutionalise joint work and formalise coordination mechanisms that have, in his words, been “so effective.”
Speaking to reporters, Guterres described joint frameworks on peace and security, sustainable development and human rights as already delivering “meaningful impact” across the continent.
The signing marks a new chapter for the AU-UN partnership for Africa, placing three years of deepening cooperation onto firmer institutional ground ahead of a leadership transition at the UN. Officials described the declaration as a turning point for the AU-UN partnership for Africa
Both institutions reaffirmed their commitment to the strategic partnership as a cornerstone for advancing peace and security, human rights and sustainable development, and for accelerating progress on AU Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda.
The Security Council: Africa Is Still Waiting
No issue dominated proceedings more directly than the composition of the United Nations Security Council. Security Council reform has become one of the defining political objectives of the AU-UN partnership for Africa.
In the days before the conference, Youssouf and Guterres had already jointly emphasised that reform of the UN Security Council remains an urgent and historic imperative.
That message was repeated in the joint communiqué and in the separate trilateral meeting held at the AU headquarters the same afternoon. Youssouf, Guterres and French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed the importance of more representative and inclusive international governance, particularly within the UN Security Council, and recognised the need for African representation in line with the spirit of the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration.
Both documents are longstanding African positions holding that the continent’s exclusion from permanent Security Council membership is structurally unjust. Africa has 54 UN member states. It holds no permanent seat and no veto power.
Guterres noted that the Pact for the Future, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2024, had explicitly called for reforming the Security Council to be more representative of today’s world and to redress the historical injustice against Africa as a priority.
Paying for African Peace Operations
The conference pushed forward on the equally contentious question of how African-led peacekeeping missions are financed.
The Chairperson and the Secretary-General agreed to work closely toward enhancing the effective implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2719 of 2023, including through the established thematic work-streams of the Joint UN-African Union Roadmap.
Resolution 2719, adopted by the Security Council in December 2023, was designed to unlock more predictable UN funding for AU-authorised peace support operations. Its implementation has moved slowly, and the Addis Ababa conference provided fresh impetus to accelerate that work.
African peacekeeping missions across the Sahel, the Horn and Central Africa have historically depended on external donors, creating both financial and political vulnerabilities for troop-contributing countries. Funding African-led missions remains one of the biggest operational tests facing the AU-UN partnership for Africa.
Mali, Sudan and the Continent’s Active Conflicts
The conference addressed the continent’s most urgent security emergencies directly.
On the Sahel, both sides underscored the imperative of a comprehensive approach to prevent and counter violent extremism. They expressed sincere condolences to the people of Mali following deadly attacks on 25 April 2026 and reiterated their firm condemnation of those terrorist attacks.
On Sudan, the communiqué welcomed the appeal made by leading Sudanese civilian actors at the Third International Sudan Conference, held in Berlin on 15 April 2026, calling for de-escalation and an end to the conflict. It called upon the parties to place the supreme interests of the Sudanese people at the forefront and to engage constructively in efforts aimed at achieving peace.
The communiqué further called for revitalising inclusive inter-Sudanese dialogue through the facilitation efforts of the Quintet grouping, which brings together key international mediators. The coordinated response to Mali and Sudan reflects the growing security role of the AU-UN partnership for Africa.
Protecting Women in Conflict Zones
A core strand of the AU-UN partnership for Africa’s peace and security agenda concerns the safety of women and girls caught in conflict.
The conference committed to advancing a continental roadmap tied to the African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls, adopted earlier this year. The AU roadmap published in May 2026 sets out targets for ratification, national implementation and accountability across member states, and frames gender-based violence not as a peripheral social concern but as a core peace and security issue.
Macron, the Peace Fund and Food Security
French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Addis Ababa and joined a trilateral meeting at the AU headquarters with Guterres and Youssouf, extending the diplomatic weight of the day beyond the two principal institutions.
The three leaders agreed to work towards organising an international conference to mobilise private-sector resources for the African Union Peace Fund, to take place in Paris before the end of 2026.
On food security, they agreed to explore the establishment, under African leadership, of concrete emergency measures to safeguard the food security of vulnerable African states in the face of disruptions affecting global fertiliser markets. France indicated that the issue would also be raised at the G7 Summit to be held in Évian on 15, 16 and 17 June 2026.
The three leaders expressed concern at the economic, energy and food repercussions of the conflict in the Middle East on the African continent, particularly regarding the supply of hydrocarbons and fertilisers, with potentially significant consequences for food security, macroeconomic stability and social stability in the most vulnerable African countries.
Climate, Water and the 2026 UN Conference
Guterres warned that a temporary overshoot of the 1.5°C warming threshold was now “inevitable but not irreversible,” and called for accelerated action to limit its scale and duration. He said Africa, which receives only around 2 per cent of global clean energy investment, could become a major renewable energy hub with the potential to generate far more electricity than it consumes by 2040.
He also said Africa should move beyond being a supplier of raw materials in the global energy transition and instead develop domestic industries for processing and manufacturing critical minerals. Climate financing and critical minerals are also becoming strategic pillars of the AU-UN partnership for Africa.
The communiqué underscored the convergence between the AU’s 2026 Theme of the Year on water and sanitation and the upcoming United Nations Water Conference of December 2026, co-hosted by the United Arab Emirates and Senegal, committing to ensure that African perspectives shape the global agenda.
The Man Holding the Brief for Africa
Chairperson Youssouf, a former Djiboutian foreign minister, was elected to lead the AU Commission in February 2025. Before his election, he vowed to work on “silencing the guns” on the continent, describing conflict prevention and resolution as one of his top priorities.
Secretary-General Guterres commended his leadership in elevating the African Union’s voice and agency within global diplomacy, and recognised Africa’s constructive and influential role in advancing multilateral reform efforts, including in the context of the Pact for the Future.
What Changes Now
Ten editions of the AU-UN Annual Conference have gradually shifted its character. What began as a routine coordination exercise has become one of the sharper platforms through which Africa presses for institutional change.
The AU-UN partnership for Africa now rests on a signed declaration, a roadmap on Security Council reform, a commitment to private financing for the AU Peace Fund, and renewed momentum on Resolution 2719. None of those outcomes is guaranteed to translate into rapid change.
For African leaders, the future of the AU-UN partnership for Africa now depends on whether global institutions translate rhetoric into structural reform.
But the language coming out of Addis Ababa today is no longer asking politely. It is telling the world that a continent supplying the troops, bearing the crises, and holding the minerals that drive the global energy transition expects a seat where the decisions are made.
Sources: Joint Communiqué of the Tenth African Union-United Nations Annual Conference, au.int, 13 May 2026; Secretary-General’s Press Encounter, un.org, 13 May 2026; AU-French Republic trilateral readout, au.int, 13 May 2026; Radio Tamazuj; Africanews; VOA News.
