NEW YORK, May 25 (MNA) � Iranian UN envoy and head of NAM has highlighted the groups support for AU peacekeeping programs and has welcomed cooperation with the African Union.


Iranian Ambassador and Charge d'Affaires to the UN Mr. Gholamhossein Dehghani communicated on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement a statement to the Security Council Open Debate on �UN-AU peace and security cooperation: Chapter VIII application and the future of African Peace and Security Architecture.�

Here is full text of the statement:

I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

I would first like to congratulate you Mr. President, on Egypt�s assumption of the presidency of the Security Council this month. I would also like to express our appreciation to you for holding this open debate and the briefing provided earlier this morning.

The Non-Aligned Movement welcomes the enhanced relationship and cooperation with regional and sub-regional organizations, in particular the African Union, in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations.

NAM has always commended the African Union, ECOWAS, ECCAS, ICGLR, EAC and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) for their indispensable roles and contributions to peace and security in various parts of Africa. We encourage the political process as a priority while emphasizing the need to focus on development assistance in regions affected by war, since peace and development mutually reinforce each other.

NAM supports the continuing efforts to strengthen African peacekeeping capabilities and emphasizes the importance of implementing the Ten-Year Capacity-Building Programme for the African Union and the joint action plan for United Nations support to the African Union in peacekeeping in the short, medium and long terms and in all relevant areas. NAM has also recommended enhancing the effective partnership between the United Nations and the African Union in order to improve the planning, deployment and management of African peacekeeping operations.

Let me, here, reiterate NAM�s principled position regarding peacekeeping by stressing that the establishment of any peacekeeping operation, or the extension of the mandate of existing ones, should strictly observe the purposes and principles of the Charter and those principles that have evolved to govern such operations and have become basic principles thereof � that is, the consent of the parties, the non-use of force except in self-defense, and impartiality. NAM stresses that respect for the principles of the sovereign equality, political independence and territorial integrity of all States, and non-intervention in matters that are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of States�, should also be upheld in that regard.

Mr. President,

Leaders of the African Union expressed their determination to achieve the goal of a conflict-free Africa through the framework of African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), which is now a key pillar of the AU�s visionary �Agenda 2063�. The African Union has established its own thematic priorities and has developed two APSA roadmaps to reach the stated objectives.

Finally, NAM hopes this open debate could help identifying the partnership opportunities between various pillars in the maintenance of international peace and security, and generate new momentum for strengthening peace and security cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union, in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations.

I thank you Mr. President

By Mehr News Agency