Joint Press Conference by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat

Joint Press Conference by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat

Following is the transcript of the joint press conference by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, in New York today:

Chairperson: Merci et bon après-midi mesdames et messieurs. Comme l'a rappelé le porte-parole du Secrétaire général, nous venons de terminer la 7e session du dialogue de haut niveau entre les Nations Unies et l'Union africaine.

Vous savez, nous avons signé des accords-cadres depuis 2017, notamment sur les questions de paix et de sécurité ; sur les questions de développement, notamment la mise en œuvre des agendas 2030 et 2063.

Et aujourd'hui, nous avons signé le secrétaire général et moi-même un accord sur les droits de l'homme. Vous l'aurez constaté, notre partenariat touche l'essentiel de nos attributions en tant qu'organisation internationale.

Cette 7e session nous a donné l'occasion de faire un tour d'horizon sur les différentes questions.

Vous savez que le continent africain traverse une période difficile en matière de paix et de sécurité.

Il est devenu malheureusement un des repaires du terrorisme et de l'extrémisme violent.

Bon nombre de nos régions sont touchées par ces phénomènes.

Vous savez également qu'il y a plusieurs missions de maintien de la paix de l'Union africaine dans le continent africain qui, malheureusement pour certaines, sont en train de partir dans des conditions particulières.

Nous sommes allés plus en profondeur en débattant de ces questions sur la pertinence de certaines missions de maintien de la paix et notamment sur leur mandat, quand on constate l'évolution et de la nature et de l'ampleur des conflits qui s'y déroulent.

Nous avons également discuté de l'agenda 2030 [Programme 2030]. Vous savez, nous sommes à 6 ans du délai de 2030 ; de l'Agenda 2063, qu'on a mis en œuvre depuis 10 ans. Nous avons terminé le premier plan décennal. Nous en avons élaboré un nouveau que nous allons certainement adopter dans les mois prochains.

De façon globale, le continent sur le plan économique est dans une grande difficulté, consécutive à une crise de triple dimension : La COVID-19 ; les changements climatiques, qui touchent particulièrement le continent africain ; et la guerre en Ukraine et ses conséquences, aussi bien sur le plan alimentaire, notamment les questions des céréales et des fertilisants.

Donc, cette multitude de phénomènes aggrave la situation économique et financière du continent. Comme vous le savez par ailleurs, la question du financement du développement et du financement de la paix se pose avec acuité. Le débat aujourd'hui est sur la question de la réforme des institutions financières internationales. En tout cas, le continent africain souffre du manque de financement.

Nous sommes à la veille de la COP 28. Le Secrétaire général et moi-même, nous allons nous y rendre à partir de demain. Ce grand rendez-vous doit être également l'occasion de faire un plaidoyer, notamment pour le continent africain, qui est négativement impacté par les changements climatiques alors qu'il est le moins pollueur.

De plus en plus sur l'agenda dans ce domaine, c'est la question de la transition énergétique. Je rappelle quand même que le continent africain compte près de 600 millions d'habitants qui ne connaissent même pas encore l'électricité.

Alors cette transition doit obligatoirement, pour être juste, tenir compte de cette situation du continent. Certes, nous sommes d'accord pour une énergie propre et une énergie verte, une énergie renouvelable. Encore faut-il créer les conditions, et cela passe également par la fameuse question des financements.

On aura financé cette transition dans le continent africain qu'elle serait d'abord rentable. C'est pas des dons, que nous attendons, nous voulons juste des investissements.

On aura mis en place une énergie nouvelle et propre. On aura, par voie de conséquence, également stabilisé et développé le continent, et peut-être réglé des problèmes comme ceux de la migration, qui est devenue aujourd'hui un sujet extrêmement sensible, notamment avec notre voisin immédiat qui est l'Europe.

En gros, nous avons donc échangé sur toutes ces questions stratégiques. Je constate une totale convergence de vues entre les Nations Unies et l'Union africaine. Je remercie le Secrétaire général Antonio Guterres qui est fortement engagé lui-même et son adjointe Madame Amina (Mohammed) et leurs équipes. Nous avons commencé par travailler ensemble sur ces différentes questions et nous avons pris l'engagement de renforcer ce partenariat aussi bien par nos représentants sur le terrain que par nos institutions spécialisées respectives.

Voilà, donc, c'est sur une note de satisfaction que nous avons terminé cette 7e session du dialogue entre les Nations Unies et l'Union africaine. Je vous remercie.

Secretary-General: I would like, first of all, to express my deep gratitude to my dear friend, Moussa Faki Mahamat, for the excellent meeting that we have just finished.

The partnership between the African Union and the United Nations is an essential partnership for the United Nations. It is our most important strategic partnership, as Africa remains one of the key priorities for the UN. That priority is based on the clear perception that we must work with the African Union, based on the principle of African-led solutions for African problems in all dimensions - peace and security, development, climate - and I am also extremely happy with the fact that we have completed our frameworks of cooperation today, with our Framework in relation to human rights.

Now, Africa has been the double victim of injustice. First of all, historic injustice linked to colonialism and to slavery; and second, the present injustice in relation to the way power relations are established in the world, and namely in relation to financial and economic power.

Before COVID, the African continent was catching up. The African continent had the highest rates of growth in the world. But with COVID, we have witnessed how unjust was the distribution of vaccines, and then we have seen that the developed countries had the chance to print money to support their economies and their populations in the recovery, and African countries had to increase their indebtedness to do exactly the same thing.

On top of that, the consequences of the war in Ukraine have been an increase in prices of foodstuffs - Africa is a large importer of foodstuffs, of energy - and now with global inflation and increasing interest rates, countries that have a large debt see themselves completely trapped by that - trapped in the sense that they are not in a position to fully respond to the needs to finance that debt. And we have seen today the extremely bad news that happened in relation to Zambia, that demonstrates once again how inadequate is the Framework that was established by the G20 [Group of 20] for debt relief in the world.

But, on top of that, countries have no fiscal space to respond to the basic needs of their population, and especially to their young population, as in Africa, the youth represent the majority of the population. And that brings with it, inevitably, an enormous frustration, and this kind of frustration is the seed for instability, is the seed for conflict, is the seed for coups d'états and for a number of other recent developments that have undermined the peace and security in the African continent.

It is very important to give a double response to those problems of peace and security.

First of all, to recognize that peacekeeping missions do not make sense where there is no peace to keep, and that we need peace enforcing and counter-terrorism operations in Africa, led by the African Union and with the full mandate of the Security Council under Chapter VII and assessed contributions to finance those missions. They are the only way to be effective in fighting the kind of violence and terrorism that is now proliferating in many African countries.

And second, we need to mobilize the international community to address the economic and social root causes of conflict.

And that is why we are so keen on the need for reforming international financial institutions, in order to make sure that they correspond to today's economy and not to the economy after the Second World War, and that developing countries have an increased role in the power system related to the decisions taken in relation to economy and finance.

That is why we have been insisting on the need to change the business model of multilateral development banks, on effective debt relief, on the SDG [Sustainable Development Goals] Stimulus as a key instrument to allow African countries to be able to find the fiscal space necessary to address the basic needs of their population, which of course will also have as a consequence to improve their capacity to guarantee stability, to guarantee democracy and to guarantee peace.

The African Union can count on the very strong commitment of the United Nations, fighting for the reforms that are absolutely necessary - not for the expression of simple solidarity but for the expression of justice. What Africa needs above all is justice in international relations, because Africa has been the victim of the structural injustices of our international relations.

At the same time, I would like to say that we are totally committed to work with the African Union in all areas of our common activity, and we intend to do everything in order to guarantee that in the field, at country level, our agents will work very closely with the African Union agents to make sure that the perfect common understanding we have about African and global problems will translate into also an effective cooperation at country and subregional level in the continent.

I believe this meeting has shown that we have a total identity of points of view and this meeting will bolster our cooperation and will make it even more effective with a very strong mutual commitment to the people of the African continent.

**Questions and Answers

Spokesman: We have time for a few questions and I would ask you to keep it to the subject at hand. Valeria, please.

Question: Will do my best. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairperson and Mr. Secretary-General, on behalf of UNCA [United Nations Correspondents Association] for this press conference. To you, Chairperson, on climate: so do you really expect a concrete turning point in commitments regarding African countries during COP28 [twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change]?

And if I may, to the Secretary-General, sorry, on Middle East. These few days of pauses gives all sides some breathing space. But the critical question now is, what happens whenever the negotiated truce will expire? Thank you so much.

Chairperson:La COP est un rendez-vous important. Nous serons à la 28e. Mais il ne faut pas que les COP se suivent et se ressemblent. Je crois les changements climatiques et leurs conséquences sont une réalité aujourd'hui, même pour les plus sceptiques. En septembre dernier, le continent africain a tenu un sommet à Nairobi où il a coordonné sa position. J'espère que la COP28 va prendre des décisions et surtout les mettre en œuvre. Pas mal de promesses ont été faites depuis l'Accord de Paris de 2015 mais jusque-là, il n'y a pas eu de suite. Il faut nécessairement que la situation, comme je le disais, du continent africain, soit examinée dans sa spécificité. L'Afrique, c'est 1,4 milliard d'habitants, c'est 30 millions de kilomètres carrés, c'est entre 60 et 65% des terres arables non encore exploitées, c'est le bassin du Congo, c'est une bonne partie, sinon la totalité de ces territoires qui a un ensoleillement presque de tous les jours. Il y a des rivières, il y a des cours d'eau, donc il y a une possibilité pour l'énergie propre, l'énergie renouvelable l'énergie verte, encore faut-il, on insiste, que des investissements conséquents, que la technologie nécessaire soit mise à disposition, pour que, j'insiste sur ça, je suis sûr que cet investissement sera rentable. Il va permettre effectivement de produire cette énergie, permettre au continent africain d'avoir l'énergie nécessaire pour son développement, pour son industrialisation. Quand j'ai dit « près de la moitié de la population ne connaît même pas l'électricité », même pour les ménages, même pour s'éclairer, il y a une situation assez particulière dans le continent africain. Je sais qu'à Glasgow, il a été décidé de ne pas financer les énergies fossiles. Nous sommes tous pour l'énergie propre, mais cela doit être graduel et en fonction des besoins des pays. Les fonds verts ont annoncé des montants importants, la décision des 100 milliards de dollars par an pour l'Afrique n'a pas été atteinte, alors que les besoins sont 10 fois plus importants, selon les estimations des institutions spécialisées. Donc voilà pour la question : nous attendons que des mesures concrètes soient prises à l'occasion de cette COP 28.

[as interpreted]

The COP is an important meeting. We'll be at the twenty-eighth COP. But each COP should not look the same. I think that climate change and the consequences thereof are a reality today, even for the most sceptical. In September, the African continent held a summit in Nairobi, where the African Union coordinated its position. And I hope that COP28 will see decisions being taken and especially the implementation of these decisions. Quite a lot of promises have been made since the Paris Agreement [on climate change] in 2015. But, to date, we haven't seen follow-up on these decisions.

Obviously, as I said, the situation of the African continent needs to be looked at very closely. We need to look at the specific nature of that situation. Africa is 1.4 billion inhabitants, is 30 million square kilometres and has between 60 per cent and 65 per cent of the world's non-cultivated arable land on the basis of current data. So, a large part, or almost all of the territory receives sunshine every day. There are rivers, there are other waterways; so, there is the possibility for clean, renewable and green forms of energy. But we insist that we need to have considerable investments and necessary technology to be made available so that - and I insist on this - I am certain this investment will be profitable. It will allow us to produce this energy to enable the African continent to have the necessary energy for its development, for its industrialization. When I said that almost half of the population doesn't even have electricity, doesn't even have electric lighting, so there is quite a specific situation on the African continent. I know that in Glasgow, decisions were made to not fund fossil fuel energies. We're all in favour of clean energy. But this has to be done gradually and depending on the needs of countries.

The Green Climate Fund has announced around $100 billion per year, but we haven't yet seen that goal being reached. And we have 10 times higher needs according to specific estimates that have been drawn up. So, we are hoping that specific measures will be taken at this COP28.

Secretary-General: First of all, I'd like to say that the truce was a step in the right direction, was a symbol of hope. But it doesn't solve the key problems we face. That is why we have been insisting on the need for a humanitarian ceasefire, leading to the unconditional and the immediate release of all hostages and to the possibility to have effective humanitarian aid to all people in Gaza, wherever they live.

Spokesman: Thank you. Sherwin Bryce Pease, South African Broadcasting?

Question: Chairman Faki, Secretary-General Guterres, we are witnessing a trend on the African continent where UN peacekeeping missions, political missions are asked to withdraw before their mandates are complete. You both touched on this in your opening remarks. We see this in Mali, a chaotic withdrawal of UN peacekeeping forces there. Sudan now, it's pending in terms of the political mission there and the DRC [Democratic Republic of the Congo], of course, is waiting in the wings.

What does it say about the future of UN peacekeeping, the role of the African Union in that regard moving forward, given the scenes and scenarios and the theatres that are playing themselves up before our eyes today? And then on Sudan, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide warned earlier this month of horrific levels of violence with signs of atrocity crimes being committed, particularly in West Darfur. Is this a failure of the African Union? Is it a failure of IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development]? Is it a failure of the United Nations? Yes, the two military factions are the key protagonists here. But, what role has the international community played in terms of this failure? Thank you.

Chairperson:Les missions de maintien de la paix en Afrique, pour certaines, ont duré plus de 60 ans.

Vous vous en doutez, cette question a été au cœur de nos discussions ce matin. L'ampleur des menaces et la nature des menaces a changé dans le continent africain. Plutôt que du maintien de la paix, il s'agit d'obtenir et d'imposer, même, dans certaines situations, la paix. Et donc, les mandats tels qu'ils existent actuellement ne correspondent pas à la nature du défi qui se pose aujourd'hui dans le continent africain. Ce n'est pas faute de l'avoir dit depuis des années, notamment, c'est le cas du Mali. On aura constaté qu'on aura mis 10 ans. La menace qui était au nord du Mali a dépassé le Mali, le Burkina Faso, elle est allée jusqu'aux États du golfe de Guinée. Donc, ne serait-ce qu'en prenant cet exemple, je crois qu'il est tout à fait normal et sage de pouvoir revoir notre approche. Notre approche à l'Union africaine, et qui est largement partagée par le Secrétaire général, est que la nature de ces menaces dans le continent africain a besoin d'une réponse appropriée. Ce n'est pas faute d'avoir proposé nous, Africains, de mettre à disposition des forces. Il faut que ces missions africaines soient financées par les ressources des Nations Unies. Il s'agit d'une menace à la paix et à la sécurité, et c'est là la responsabilité du Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies. Je crois que, à chaque situation, il faut adapter l'outil et je crois qu'il est temps naturellement de changer là où cela doit être changé, et je crois que c'est ce qui est en train de [se] faire, et cela correspond exactement aux attentes qui sont les nôtres. Maintenant le débat aujourd'hui, et qui ne date pas d'aujourd'hui, est celui d'obtenir du Conseil de sécurité les financements des opérations africaines sur les ressources des Nations Unies. Merci.

[as interpreted]

The peacekeeping missions in Africa… well, of course, were at the heart of our discussions this morning. […] But the nature of the threat has changed in Africa. Rather than peacekeeping, it's a case of bringing about peace in many areas. So, the current mandates, as they currently stand, are not in line with the nature of the challenges that we're often seeing in Africa. That's not the result of a lack of saying this for many years. In Mali, we have been saying that there was the possibility of the threat in the north of Mali spilling over into other countries, including Burkina Faso. Only by looking at that example, I think it is quite natural therefore to review the situation. Our approach in the African Union, and this is something that is shared by the SG [Secretary-General], is that the nature of these threats that we are seeing in Africa needs to see an appropriate response. We have proposed making our forces available, but these forces need to be financed by the UN budget. This is a threat to peace and security, and therefore, it is the responsibility of the United Nations Security Council. I think that, of course, every situation requires a tailored response. Where the changes are needed, then these changes need to be implemented. I think that is exactly what we are expecting.

Now the debate, today is to ensure that the Security Council accords the necessary financing for these operations to be as such. Thank you.

Secretary-General: Allow me first an observation. The drawdown of the Mali operation is not chaotic. It is taking place as planned. And I must say that the operation of withdrawal from Kidal, Tessalit and Aguelhok of a convoy with 14 kilometres, being able to do so with lots of IED [improvised explosive devices] on the way, without the possibility of having air surveillance because it was denied by the Malian authorities, and to be able to come to Gao without one single casualty, one single peacekeeper dying, is a remarkable operation, and I want to pay tribute to the courage of the peacekeepers that they've done it. By the way, a large part of this force was Chadian soldiers that have been heroic in their work.

Having said so, I do believe that it must make sense to have peacekeeping missions where there is no peace to keep. And where the problems are problems of, namely, terrorism and other forms of violent extreme confrontation. Peacekeeping missions make sense in order to stabilize situations after a peace process taking place. When we have situations like the one we have in Mali or the one we have in other areas affected by terrorism, what we need is peace enforcing and counter-terrorism operations. The UN has not the vocation to do so. The African Union has, and we fully support that that should be done with African Union-led operations with a full mandate of the Security Council under Chapter VII and with assessed contributions decided also at the Security Council level and at the UN level. And to those that have sometimes doubts about the African Union in this regard, I have to say that the rules of compliance that the African Union has established are perfectly compatible with ours. And the agreement that we established today on human rights is a further guarantee that we can trust the African Union to organize effective peace-enforcing operations in Africa. Sorry?

Question: Sudan.

Secretary-General: You know, I must tell you that I find your question a bit funny. I mean, you have two generals that completely disregard the interests of their population - that, in a struggle for power, have been fighting and in some situations with massacres, like the one of the Masalit that has occurred.

After a gigantic effort that was led by the African Union that established an agreement that should lead to a full democratization of Sudan - and all of a sudden, instead of implementing that agreement, they do coups d'état, and after that, they fight each other and probably with the support in money and weapons by some others and then people say it's the fault of the African Union or the United Nations.

I think it's time to call a spade a spade. This is the fault of those that sacrificed the interests of their people for a pure struggle for power, and they're the ones that support them, based on considerations that I would not like to comment today.

Spokesman: News Agency of Nigeria?

Chairperson:Le Soudan est en guerre. Le Secrétaire général l'a rappelé, en 2019, l'Union africaine a déployé une mission et après discussion pendant plusieurs mois, nous sommes arrivés à un accord pour organiser la transition. Malheureusement, en octobre 2021, il y a eu un coup d'état, dont les auteurs sont les deux généraux, Président et Vice-président du Conseil appelé « des souverainetés ». Actuellement c'est la guerre dans le Soudan. Nous et un certain nombre de nos partenaires, nous travaillons pour la cessation des hostilités. Il y a un processus à Djedda en Arabie saoudite, j'espère… On m'a dit que les choses avancent, peut-être qu'on aura un cessez-le-feu immédiatement. Après ça, naturellement des enquêtes seront faites, des responsabilités situées, et des mesures prises en son temps. Actuellement, nous sommes focalisés sur la région… D'abord, arrêter les hostilités et l'IGAD et l'Union africaine travaillent pour relancer un processus politique pour les ramener dans une situation où une transition peut se terminer et des élections organisées. Malheureusement nous n'en sommes pas encore là.

[as interpreted]

Sudan is at war. The Secretary-General recalled that in 2019, the AU [African Union] deployed a mission. And after discussions for several months, we reached an agreement to organize the transition. Unfortunately, in October 2021, there was a coup d'état, the perpetrators of which are the two generals, the President and the Vice-President of the so-called Sovereignty Council. Currently, we have war in Sudan. And we and several of our partners are working to see a cessation of hostilities; there is a process in Jeddah and Saudi Arabia - I hope - and I've been told that things are moving forward. We might see a ceasefire immediately. After that, obviously, there will be investigations, inquiries, there will be responsibilities drawn up and we're currently focusing on stopping the hostilities, IGAD and the AU are working to launch a political process to bring them to a situation where a transition can come to an end and where elections can be held. Unfortunately, we're not there yet.

Spokesman: News Agency of Nigeria, Cecilia?

Question: Okay. Thank you. From what you have mentioned, we know that military coup is a big challenge in Africa, and we cannot ignore that. So, what will you say is responsible for the military coup and with what we're experiencing - an attempt in Sierra Leone on Sunday, what could be done to prevent that? Then secondly, what is your response to the appeal from the ECOWAS [Economic Community of West African States] Parliament, urging the Heads of States within their bloc to lift the sanctions imposed on Niger following the military coup on July 26?

Chairperson:Écoutez, les coups d'état sont une violation des règles démocratiques dans les États. C'est un phénomène que nous avons cru définitivement dépassé dans le continent africain. Malheureusement nous avons constaté qu'il y a 6 coups d'état, 6 états africains sont suspendus de l'Union africaine pour cause de changements non constitutionnels de gouvernement. Les raisons sont multiples. Mais il n'est pas acceptable que la dévolution du pouvoir s'efface de cette façon. La CEDEAO va organiser un sommet bientôt pour pouvoir évaluer les situations dans les pays. Je n'ai pas eu connaissance de la position du Parlement sur cette question mais cela relève de l'organisation régionale qui est la CEDEAO.

[as interpreted]

Coups d'état are a violation of democratic rules in States. They are a phenomenon that we thought was definitively over and done with in the African continent. Unfortunately, we've seen six coups d'état, six African States have been suspended from the African Union due to unconstitutional changes of Government. The reasons for this are manifold, but it is not acceptable for the devolution of power to happen in such a way. ECOWAS will be soon organizing a summit to be able to assess the situation in these countries. I'm not well aware of the situation of the Parliament on that, but it does fall under the regional organization that is ECOWAS.

Secretary-General: I fully support what has been said.

Spokesman: Celhia de Lavarene?

Question: I'm Celhia de Lavarene, Africa Confidential. I would like to know if you think that the African Union should maintain sanctions against the perpetrators of the coups d'état or not, because many people are wondering about whether these sanctions should be maintained. They seem to have no impact on the perpetrators. Notably, if one looks at the Niger, where the junta appears to be standing ground. And secondly, I have heard you talk about colonization. But don't you think that the problem in Africa today is poor governance?

Chairperson:Bien sûr que la question de la gouvernance est au centre de tout ça. On n'a jamais nié qu'il y a un problème de gouvernance, et très souvent, les coups d'état et autres manifestations ne sont que la conséquence de cette situation. Je vous rappelle que l'Union africaine généralement ne prend pas des sanctions sur le plan économique. La sanction qui est prise par l'Union africaine c'est la suspension du pays dans lequel s'est passé un changement non constitutionnel de gouvernement jusqu'au rétablissement de l'ordre. Donc ce pays est suspendu de toutes les activités de l'Union africaine. Bien sûr que nous sommes solidaires des décisions qui sont prises par les organisations régionales, qui, elles, sont plus proches de la réalité, et selon le principe des subsidiarités, sont à même d'apprécier la situation. Très souvent, et ça même nos États le disent, il faut éviter des sanctions qui touchent la population, et qui très souvent n'ont aucun impact sur les auteurs mêmes du coup d'état. Et donc ça fait partie des mesures dissuasives, je l'espère, malheureusement elles n'ont pas souvent marché, et je crois que cette question-là est également au centre aujourd'hui des discussions et de la réflexion, aussi bien au niveau continental qu'au niveau régional.

[as interpreted]

Of course, the issue of governance is at the heart of that. We've never denied that there is often the issue of governance that is behind these coups and situations that may evolve. I would recall that the African Union doesn't generally take economic sanctions; sanctions taken by the African Union entail suspending a country in which there has been an unconstitutional transfer of power until order is restored. So, that country is suspended from all the African Union's activities. Of course, we stand in solidarity with decisions taken by regional organizations following the principle of subsidiarity; they're able to really appreciate what's going on in this specific country. Of course, we need to avoid sanctions having a negative impact on ordinary people and no impact on the perpetrators. So, this is part of the deterrents that there are. But I think this is something that is at the heart of the discussions that we're having at the continental and regional level today.

Spokesman: Okay. Margaret Besheer, Voice of America?

Question: Thank you very much. To Chairman Faki, I was just wondering if you could go into a little more detail about the effect that the end of the Black Sea Grain Initiative has had on Africa, in terms of getting grain and food sources. And to the Secretary-General, just going to ask on Gaza - The Israeli Prime Minister has said that once the hostage exchange pauses conclude, fighting will resume. It's anticipated that Israel will push further into southern Gaza. There's already over a million and a half people displaced there. What's your message to the Israeli Government as it conducts its military activities going forward? And will it be possible to continue to deliver aid in such circumstances and such hostilities?

Chairperson:De toutes les façons, ce qui se passe en Ukraine a un impact direct sur l'ensemble du monde, et particulièrement dans le continent africain qui est importateur net de céréales et de fertilisants. C'est la raison pour laquelle, dès le départ, le continent africain a souhaité vivement - je me souviens avoir réagi parmi les premiers pour que ce conflit-là puisse avoir une solution politique et de préférence sous l'égide des Nations Unies. Parce que nous savons, et la suite l'a démontré, je crois - que les conséquences sur les économies africaines sur les ménages africains sont désastreuses. D'abord la surenchère de l'énergie, la surenchère des produits alimentaires et également les fertilisants, ce qui impacte négativement la productivité dans l'agriculture africaine. C'est pour cela que nous avons salué les efforts du Secrétaire général, de concert avec la Turquie, pour arriver à avoir cet accord sur les grains, et nous encourageons cette démarche pour pouvoir trouver une solution de ce côté et même au-delà, de trouver une solution politique à ce qui se passe entre l'Ukraine et la Russie.

[as interpreted]

In any case, what's happening in Ukraine is having a direct impact all over the world, particularly the African continent, which is a net importer of grain and fertilizers. That's why since the outset of this, the African continent very much wanted - and I think that I was one of the first to react - to ensure that this conflict could have a political solution and preferably under the auspices of the UN because we know, and we've seen as a result of this, that the consequences on the African continent… economy and households are being… are disastrous.

Firstly, we see increasing prices of energy, food products and also fertilizers. This is having a negative impact on productivity in African agriculture. That's why we welcomed the Secretary-General's efforts together with Türkiye to reach this grain agreement, and we firmly encourage this approach to try to find solutions on this side and beyond this to find a political solution to what's happening between Ukraine and Russia.

Secretary-General: My message is very clear. We need a humanitarian ceasefire. We have a dramatic humanitarian situation. At the same time, we want to have the full release of all hostages that we believe should be unconditional and immediate, but we need a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza now.

Spokesman: Thank you very much. We, unfortunately, have to go. Thank you.

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