The leaders of the UN and the African Union (AU) have reaffirmed their commitment to strategic partnership between the two organizations to advance peace and security, human rights, and sustainable development and to accelerate progress on the AU’s Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In a joint communiqué, issued at the conclusion of the tenth AU-UN Annual Conference at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Chairperson of the AU Commission (AUC) Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and UN Secretary-General António Guterres agreed that AU-UN cooperation “rests on collective coordinated action to address complex global and regional challenges.”

The leaders welcomed progress in the implementation of the Joint Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, the Framework for the Implementation of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Joint Framework on Human Rights, including in deepening institutional cooperation and strengthening coherence and accountability. They reaffirmed the importance of continued AU-UN alignment in support of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda, including as they relate to the 2026 UN Water Conference in December.

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The Chairperson and the Secretary-General highlighted the convergence between the AU’s theme of the year for 2026 – ‘Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063,’ SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) – one of the five Goals to undergo in-depth review at the July session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), and the 2026 UN Water Conference, and committed to ensure that African perspectives “shape the global agenda.” 

The leaders “called for accelerated reform of the international financial architecture to better reflect the priorities and realities of developing countries,” particularly Africa. They also called for addressing the structural challenges affecting Africa’s development, including the financing gap, unsustainable debt, and illicit financial flows.

Among the essential drivers of sustainable and inclusive growth of the African continent, the Chairperson and the Secretary-General highlighted sustainable infrastructure, energy transition, digital transformation, youth employment, women’s economic empowerment, and regional integration, including through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

They recalled the centrality of human rights to conflict prevention, peace, and inclusive development and emphasized the need for closer partnership to enhance the respect for, and the promotion and protection of, human rights through transparency and accountability.

The leaders also addressed cross-cutting themes, including health sovereignty and universal health coverage (UHC) in Africa, migration governance, forced displacement, and illicit drug trafficking.

They called for “deeper cocreation, enhanced collaboration and continued innovation beyond 2026,” and agreed that the 11th AU-UN Annual Conference will take place in 2027 in New York, US, at a date to be determined.

The tenth AU-UN Annual Conference convened on 13 May 2026. [Tenth AU-UN Annual Conference Media Advisory]