#Speech of the Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs, National Community Abroad and African Affairs, Mr. Ahmed Ataf, at the closing of the 12th Edition of the High Level Seminar on Peace and Security in Africa, #Wahran_Path. #12thOranProcess2025

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Peace and blessings be upon the Prophet, the truthful, amen

Accompanied by the Honorable Ministers,

The ambassadors of happiness,

Ladies of virtue, and gentlemen of virtue,

Honourable Guests of Algeria,

As we draw the curtain on the twelfth edition of the Wahran Trail, I can't help but express to you all our deep appreciation and all our acquaintances for your strong presence, your notable participation and your sure and determined determination to keep the flame of this trail burning to illuminate the path of maintaining security and stability in Africa.

I would like to mention, salute and praise His Excellency, both the President of the African Union Commission, the Chairman of the Executive Council of the African Union, the President of the Council for Peace and Security, and the representatives of all Member States in this Council, as well as the current African members of the National Security Council, and those who are expected to join this Council starting from Al-Fateh Janvi Next.

This praise and admonition is not complete without commending the efforts of the Accidents of the Senior Officials of the African Union Commission, headed by Mr. Commissioner of Peace, Security and Political Affairs, as well as Senior Officials of the General Secretariat of the United Nations, and in their presence, Mr. Assistant Secretary-General in charge of Peacekeeping Operations.

Praise is also due to all the partner countries in the Wahran path for their continued support and considered patronage of this unified continental endeavor.

I also do not miss the notice of participating the banner in the works of this edition, and for the first time since the launch of the Wahran Track, for the representatives of the countries elected to the membership of the National Security Council from outside the African continent. It concerns all of: Kingdom of Bahrain, Republic of Colombia, and Republic of Latvia. We extend our warmest congratulations to these sister and friendly countries on their election and our sincere wishes to them for the success of their duties and contributions in support of international peace and security.

Such quality and balanced participation, which effectively combined the high status of the participants and the large number of delegates who played the call, is the evidence of the broad resonance and increasing interest that Wahran Path has received at the continental and international levels. In this renewed and growing momentum, Algeria is only a messenger to cherish and a source of motivation and it leads the continental quest aimed at unifying the African voice and strengthening its influence and impact in the National Security Council and in all multilateral international work platforms.

This session of ours has had a unique and significant importance, which shed light on the most prominent political and security challenges facing our African continent at the moment, challenges that raise alarms, and challenges that awaken in us a sense of continual duty and the spirit of collective responsibility.

Challenges manifest itself in a set of major risks, some of which feed each other to form a trilogy that dominates its consequences and successions on the security landscape of the continent and its families. It's the complicated trilogy of unconstitutional changes by governments, the plague of terrorism, and the phenomenon of foreign interference.

Unconstitutional changes of governments have unfortunately become so familiar in Africa that our continent has recently been forced to suspend the membership of two states within a short period of less than forty-two days.

The fury of terrorism has spread and spread, until it imposes itself as the most prominent threat in the desert coast region where it controlled vast swabs of lands and appointed itself governing authorities in the name of reality.

Foreign interventions have suppressed most citizens of tension, determination and conflict in Africa, until the keys of unlocking and binding are in the hands of foreign immigrants, the local teams are not the owners of the land and the homeland, and the owners of sovereignty and decision.

In the face of this state of commitment, we evaluate what the discussions during this period have resulted in the necessity of re-signing and positioning the African Union as a key factor in crisis prevention and conflict resolution. The principle of African solutions to African problems imposes itself today, not only as a project ambition, but as a strategic choice that will avoid our continent the perils of looming international polarization, polarization that only reproduce crises, in a slower, more severe, and more dangerous format.

From this perspective, the importance of strengthening the integral relationship between the African Security Council, on the one hand, and the African member group of the National Security Council, on another, comes an issue that has influenced a significant part of the discussions and negotiations during this cycle of the Wahran path.

While our African Council is demanded to improve its performance in addressing ladder and security issues on our continent, the three African-member group in the National Council is demanding to keep up with this performance and ensure its outcomes and impact are extended to the national level.

Our experience and the experiences of our African brothers in the Security Council have all affirmed the importance of strengthening the integral and existential link between our continental organization and its representatives in the UN Security Council. Our experiments have proven and continue to prove that what makes a difference lies in one choice, not the choice of unity:

The African Security Council unit is the unit of the African member group in the UN Security Council,

The unit of the African Nations in the UN Security Council is the one that gives it weight, credibility, strength and stability in the face of gravity, polarization and division,

The UN Security Council unit of African Nations is one that gains a clear voice, a division and significant influence when it comes to peace and security issues in Africa.

Retaining the unity of the African Class and the African Voice has in the same way represented our goals and intentions during Algeria’s membership in the Security Council. At this point, I cannot but greet our brothers from the Republic of Somalia and the Republic of Sierra Leone who have shared with us the burden of this noble endeavor. I also salute, in this context, the Republic of Guyana, which has strengthened the voice of the African voice and increased its popularity in the Security Council, by adding to it the voice of the Caribbean region, as the sixth African region.

Because this principle of African unity is short of the Algerian experience in the UN Security Council, I will suffice to remind myself of the advice of our late African leader, Julius Nyeriri, who said "Unity may not make us rich, but it makes it difficult to ignore African countries and peoples."

“Unity may not make us rich, but it will make it difficult for Africa and for the African peoples to be disregarded.”

Thank you for your generosity of listening, peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you.