The Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, has joined United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a high-level trilateral AU-EU-UN meeting in New York.
The engagement was held on the margins of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 81) and focused on strengthening multilateral cooperation amid growing geopolitical pressures and shared global challenges.
The leaders reaffirmed the interconnectedness of Africa and Europe and the importance of international law and collective action in addressing global challenges.
Discussions centred on cooperation in peace, security and sustainable development, with particular attention to the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and maritime security.
The meeting also considered efforts to prevent further escalation of conflicts and strengthen regional dialogue and mediation.
On development financing, the leaders discussed Africa’s financing needs and the reform of the international financial architecture.
The discussions included greater use of guarantees and blended finance, the rechanneling of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to multilateral development banks, and stronger African financial institutions to support the implementation of Agenda 2063.
Food security, climate resilience and early warning systems also featured prominently.
The participants discussed cooperation on fertiliser production and supply corridors, climate-smart agriculture and soil mapping, as well as the potential use of Galileo and Copernicus satellite systems to strengthen early warning capabilities.
The trilateral meeting reaffirmed the commitment of the AU, EU and UN to focused, innovative and measurable cooperation.
The leaders also envisaged follow-up arrangements to review progress and advance concrete outcomes from the discussions.
