United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU)

UNOAU Mandate and History Since the transformation of the Organization of African Unity into the African Union (AU) in 2002, and in particular the 2004 launching of the AU’s peace and security architecture, there has been strong support among the United Nations (UN) and its Member States for close cooperation with the AU. In 2005, the World Summit underscored the need to devote attention to the special needs of Africa. In follow-up to this Summit, Secretary-General Kofi Annan in the 2006 Addis Ababa Declaration “Enhancing UN-AU Cooperation: Framework for the Ten-Year Capacity-Building Programme for the African Union”, pledged the UN’s support for the development and strengthening of the AU Commission, focusing “with priority, on conflict prevention, mediation and good offices, peacekeeping and peacebuilding”. In 2007 the General Assembly adopted resolution 61/296 on cooperation between the UN and the AU and requested the Secretary-General to take appropriate steps to strengthen the capacity of the Secretariat to meet the special needs of Africa. By 1 July 2010, the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU) was established by UN General Assembly Resolution 64/288. The Office integrated the three existing offices: DPA Liaison Office, the DPKO AU Peace Support Team and the DFS Planning Team for Somalia to support AMISOM, as well as the support component of the UNAMID Joint Support Coordination Mechanism office in Addis Ababa. UNOAU’s mandate is to: • Enhance the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union in the area of peace and security; • Provide coordinated and consistent United Nations advice to the African Union on long-term capacity-building and short-term operational support matters; • Streamline the United Nations presence in Addis Ababa to make it cost-effective and efficient in delivering UN assistance to the AU.