The United Nations (UN) Security Council adopted yesterday, Wednesday, a statement proposed by China that recognizes the need to strengthen the capacity of African countries, emphasizing the importance of respecting the leadership of these states.

According to Lusa, the project outlines several priority areas for capacity building support to African member states, including combating terrorism, the effects of climate change, piracy and armed robbery at sea, and combating food insecurity.

The text also contains provisions on UN peace missions and Security Council sanctions.

The "presidential statement" was proposed by China - the country that chaired the Security Council this month - in connection with the open debate on "Peace and Security in Africa: Capacity Building to Sustain Peace" held on August 8 at the UN.

"The Security Council members adopted this presidential statement by consensus, which is of great significance in promoting future support for building capacity and achieving lasting peace on the continent," said Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun.

In his statement after the vote, the diplomat thanked Gabon, Ghana and Kenya for their active participation and strong support during the consultation process, "especially for their valuable 'inputs' from the perspective of African countries, which made this declaration more responsive to Africa's needs."

Zhang Jun also called on the Security Council to see this declaration as an "opportunity to continue its support for peace and security in Africa and to hold consultations with African countries as they work together to achieve the goals set out in the declaration and thus make major contributions to peace, stability, security and development in Africa."

Despite the successful adoption of the declaration, the Chinese delegation acknowledged that the negotiations for the final text were long and difficult, which led to it being revised seven times.

During its presidencies of the Security Council in the past two years, China has developed projects related to Africa, and the Council has adopted its statements on countering terrorism and extremism in Africa and on post-pandemic recovery on the African continent.