Council outlines measures to deal with conflict

The United Nations Security Council outlined measures on Thursday aimed at preventing conflict; and creating political, social and economic conditions essential for peace and sustainable development in Africa, UN News reported.

In a wide-ranging speech that followed statements of representatives from close to 50 nations, the Council underscored the importance of partnership and enhanced cooperation between the UN, the Organisation of African Unity and the continent’s subregional economic bodies.

The Council underscored that economic reconstruction was important to the long-term development of post-conflict societies and to the maintenance of lasting peace. Therefore, the Council called for greater international aid for this effort.

It said that early resumption of international development aid to countries where a peace process was being implemented was of critical importance for its success, and emphasised the importance of the donor community and international financial institutions in those instances.

The Council reaffirmed its commitment to ending conflicts in Africa, poverty and development, the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons, the problems of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), the illegal exploitation of natural resources and, social exclusion as a source of intra-State conflicts.

It also expressed its resolve to try to establish the political conditions that would prevent the recurrence of conflict before making a decision to withdraw any peacekeeping operation.

Council also reiterated the importance of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration in the process of conflict resolution and post-conflict peace building, and noted the lack of adequate resources for effective reintegration programmes.

It expressed concern over the effects of conflicts on civilians, including violations of their human rights, underlining the need to solve the problem if refugees and IDPs, which, in addition to humanitarian consequences, was a burden on the affected countries and might become a source of conflict.