Kuwait strengthens AU's vision of peace, progress, prosperity

NEW YORK, July 19 (KUNA) -- Kuwait will continue to strengthen the African Union's vision of peace, progress and prosperity to prevent and resolve conflicts and maintain peace, security and regional stability, Kuwait's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi said.
Al-Otaibi said in a speech on Wednesday evening at the Security Council session that the cooperation between the UN and the AU will be based on Chapter VIII of the UN Charter.
Kuwait's link with the African continent is historic and rooted in the pre-establishment of diplomatic relations. This link further strengthened after Kuwait joined as an observer member of the AU since December 2011.
Former Secretary-General Kofi Annan's report said that there can be no peace without development and there can be no development without peace, Al-Otaibi said.
This vision is consistent with one of the basic principles of Kuwait's foreign policy especially the development policy pursued by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development since 1961. The Fund's contributions to 51 African countries amounted to about USD 10 billion.
He called for cooperation between the Security Council, AU's Peace and Security Council (PSC) and the close cooperation between UN and AU representatives.
Al-Otaibi respects the AU's constant commitment to cover 25 percent of the cost of peace support operations.
Kuwait looks forward to strengthening cooperation between the Security Council and the League of Arab States by preventing conflicts and resolving them in peaceful ways as stipulated in the Charter of the United Nations. (end) asf.lr