By Mariatou Ngum & Abdou Mbye
The Gambia has renewed its call for adequate, predictable and sustainable financing to underpin the African Union’s conflict prevention and resolution efforts, warning that political commitments to peace on the continent risk falling short without the resources to match them.
Speaking at the 26th Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council, held at the InterContinental Hotel in Luanda, Hon. Sering Modou Njie, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad, told delegates that even the strongest continental mechanisms would struggle to translate political will into timely and effective action without the necessary financial backing.
Leading the Gambian delegation at the session on financing mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution in Africa, Minister Njie welcomed progress made in strengthening the African Union Peace Fund, describing it as an increasingly credible continental financing instrument supporting mediation, preventive diplomacy, peace support operations and institutional capacity across the continent.
The Minister argued that African ownership of the peace and security agenda must be matched by African resources, urging Member States to fulfil their assessed contributions in a timely manner and, where possible, provide additional voluntary contributions to the Peace Fund. He further called for the Fund’s resource base to be broadened and diversified through stronger partnerships with African financial institutions, development finance institutions, the private sector, philanthropic organisations and the African diaspora, noting that the AU Peace Fund Resource Mobilisation Strategy 2025-2030 offers an important framework for this effort.
Minister Njie placed particular emphasis on prevention, telling the Council that predictable and timely resources for early warning, preventive diplomacy and mediation would allow the Union to act before crises escalate, thereby averting the far greater human, political and economic costs of prolonged conflict.
On implementation, the Minister stressed that the success of the Luanda Plan of Action would similarly depend on adequate financial, technical and human resources, and called for financing commitments to be aligned with the Plan’s implementation, monitoring and accountability mechanisms.
He reaffirmed The Gambia’s commitment to strengthening African-led and African-owned approaches to peace and security, while stressing that strategic partnerships with international partners should complement, rather than substitute for, the continent’s own responsibility. He closed by urging that political commitments to peace be matched by the resources required to deliver them.
Minister Njie is accompanied at the session by Permanent Secretary Ms. Fatou Kinneh Jobe, OVP Permanent Secretary Mr. Musa Mbye, Deputy Head of Mission of The Gambia’s Embassy in Addis Ababa and First Secretary Mrs. Tunko Jallow.