The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has unanimously adopted Resolution 2033 to strengthen cooperation between the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) following President Jacob Zuma’s urging of the two bodies to work closely together in the areas of prevention and resolution of conflicts in Africa.

President Zuma chaired the UNSC Summit Debate on “Strengthening the relationship between the United Nations and regional organizations in particular the African Union in the maintenance of international peace and security”

The President strongly urged the UNSC to avoid a situation such as that which transpired during the conflict in Libya last year, wherein the 1973 Resolution of the UN Security Council was largely abused in some specific respects. President Zuma further warned that Africa should never be a playground for furthering the interests of other regions ever again as it happened during the Cold War.

“Conflicts in Africa will be manageable if they are not promoted or aided from outside the continent,” said President Zuma. He also repeated his call for the fundamental reform of the UN Security Council so that it can become more representative and legitimate.

This month, South Africa, an elected non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2011/ 2012 assumed the rotating Presidency of the UN Security Council.

Earlier, the President co-chaired the 6th Session of the Global Sustainability Panel (GSP) with President Tarja Halonen of Finland. The GSP dealt with issues of sustainable development, a sustainable economy and strengthening institutional governance as well as strengthening the GSP as a means of accelerating the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Outcomes adopted by the Panel will be released to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and also feed into preparations for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio in June 2012.

"I am very happy that other countries heard our message and unanimously supported our calls to strengthen the relations between the UN and regional bodies particularly the AU. While we are pleased with the current relations between the two bodies we also feel that we can deepen them further for better co-ordination when it comes to dealing with issues affecting our continent. We want the views of the African Union to be respected by the UN," said President Zuma.

President Zuma also held bilateral meetings with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon on the margins of these high-level meetings. The President and his delegation return to South Africa today.