'Multiple challenges' undermine A.U.'s flagship peace plan for 2030

When they first conceived the "Silencing the Guns" initiative, African Union leaders set out with a sky-high ambition for transforming societies: No more war, conflict or gender-based violence, and no more genocide.

That was in 2013. After the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, the 55-nation organization extended the initiative to 2030 to match the timeline for achieving the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

But as the continent faces a raft of complications, the A.U. goal of tackling structural root causes and drivers of conflict for sustainable development is in doubt, said Mohamed Ibn Chambas, who heads the initiative.

"Africa is faced with multiple challenges that put at risk the attainment of the noble objectives of 'Silencing the Guns' even by the new date of 2030," Chambas told a U.N. Security Council high-level debate on Thursday.

"The causes of these challenges are historical, constitutional, institutional, economic, social, and cultural," he said. "They relate also to the impact of climate change. Africa's vulnerability to global economic shocks and weak implementation of protocols and decisions taken at national, sub-regional, continental and international levels regarding peace and security and development of the African continent are also contributory factors."

He said the pandemic "wiped out" most of Africa's economic gains, pushing 55 million more Africans into poverty in 2020 alone, and widened the gap between rich and poor as the continent's overall debt rose to more than US$600 billion, double the amount two decades earlier.

That's a turnaround from what the U.N. Development Program reported last year. UNDP said Africa's progress in "creating the foundations for silencing the guns" included 90 million more kids enrolled at primary schools since 2000 and an almost 10% rise in adult literacy rates from 1995.

"Development policies play a substantial role in supporting conflict prevention and resolution," said Cristina Duarte, the special adviser on Africa to U.N. Secretary‑General António Guterres, whose office supports the A.U. initiative. "Furthermore, the absence of development policies, or the existence of policies and programs that do not deliver inclusive development, can act as a root cause of conflicts."

Leaders need to 'believe ... it's possible'

Africa has dozens of armed conflicts in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan that are destabilizing nations and undermining democracy. Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Mali and Sudan all had military coups last year.

Chambas advised leaders to crack down on Africa's US$90 billion in illicit financial flows, reduce inequalities, invest more in education, technology and health, and help find decent jobs for more youth.

"It is untenable that a continent with 60% of the world's remaining arable lands and many rivers and freshwater bodies should be dependent for its grains on external sources," he said.

As chair of the debate, Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi emphasized a need for greater counterterrorism efforts to fulfill the A.U. initiative. His nation has been battling an insurgency by an affiliate of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, in a northern province.

"We are aware that to have a continent in peace, it is necessary that African leaders believe that a continent with silenced guns is possible," Nyusi told the council. "No silencing of the guns can be complete if the violent extremists prevail on our continent and globally."