Financing of AU peace operations merits int'l support: Chinese envoy

UNITED NATIONS, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations on Thursday called on the international community to ramp up backing for financing African Union (AU)-led peace operations.

In February this year, the AU summit adopted a consensus paper, stressing the need to provide AU-led peace support operations with adequate, predictable and sustainable funding and calling for support from the United Nations.

"Aspirations of African countries in this regard are legitimate and reasonable, and merit great attention and active support from the international community," Zhang Jun told a Security Council briefing.

He said that when addressing the funding of AU peace operations, the fundamental principle of solving African problems in an African way should be embodied.

AU-led peace support operations, after taking UN's funding support, will remain operations of the AU, Zhang said. "It is about resolving funding issues, not about turning AU forces into another UN peacekeeping force."

He pointed out that the protection of human rights is part of the focus of peace support operations, but it should be put in the right place.

"Human rights accountability provisions must not be used as a pretext to indefinitely delay the discussion of funding options and defer decisions thereon," he said.

Support from UN-assessed contributions should be a complement to the existing funding modes of the AU, Zhang said.

Developed countries, who are the traditional financial contributors, must not reduce their funding support for Africa due to this, and must refrain from simply submitting the contributions already intended for Africa to the UN with a changed name to shirk their historical responsibility towards Africa, he added.

He stressed that the funding of AU peace operations should be considered together with the reform of UN peacekeeping operations in a holistic manner.

China supports decisive and necessary streamlining and optimization of some UN peacekeeping operations, the resources saved from which could be used to better support AU peace operations, said the envoy.

China firmly supports Africa in improving its own peace support capacity, and supports the provision of adequate, predictable and sustainable funding support to AU-led peace support operations, he said.

"We expect the Security Council to take this meeting as an opportunity, stay pragmatic and results-oriented, and work for early and substantive progress on the relevant issues," Zhang said.